Earth Day
by Tibki
Summary: It's April 22 again, and the girls and Matt learn that even though they were through with Nerissa and Phobos, their jobs are never done. Better than it sounds. The Epilogue is now posted! cries
1. Chapter 1: PT I A Rude Awakening

**Disclaimer: Not own Witch I do. (That's how Yoda would say it)**

**I re-did this chapter for two reasons. One, when i read over it, it was really, really short. So i added about 258 words. And second, before i can post chapter 4, i need your help. There's a poll on my profile, plz vote on it! I haven't updated all summer and school starts tomorrow.

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The ballroom was well lit with floating orbs of blue and gold magic. Light, wispy music that didn't exactly belong in the same time period as the dancing partygoers' clothes flew through the air.

Cornelia Hale, Earth Guardian and older sister to Lillian Hale, Heart of Earth, was standing next to her best friend since she was little, Queen Elyon Brown Escanor of Meridian, who was sitting in a huge throne in the back of the room. Cornelia was wearing a long green dress, while Elyon was in her royal blue robes and silver crown.

The pair watched the faceless dancers spin around in a practiced way, twirling and dipping as one. A brown-haired boy dressed in a green dress tunic, maybe 16 or 17, came up to them, bowing to the Queen.

"May I have this dance?" he asked Cornelia, bowing toward her with his hand out. Cornelia glanced at a bored Elyon, who smirked.

"Go, before I kick both your butts." As always, she fulfilled her title as the least formal Queen in the history of Meridian. Cornelia grinned at her and took his hand, spinning onto the floor and getting a good look at his face as he looked at her.

It was Caleb, well, now _Sir_ Caleb, ever since Elyon had knighted him. He smiled, showing her his dazzling white teeth. Cornelia smiled back at the face that could make most girls' hearts melt into goop.

They picked up the rhythm, Caleb leading her. From the corner of her eye, Cornelia could see a strange boy with blue hair take Elyon off her throne and lead her to the dance floor.

They matched each step perfectly, gazing at each other. Part of her realized that she didn't know the dance, but the majority was saying, "Who cares? It's only a dream. One I never want to end, but still a dream."

In real life, she was lying comfortably on her bed on Earth, smiling. Unknown to her, the door to her room creaked open, shedding a sliver of light over her face. A shadow came across her.

Someone had come to wake her up.

He didn't really care that she would be spitting fire after this. His job was too important. And she even knew that.

Still, she was going to be pissed.

He ran into the room, slipping for a bit on the cold marble floor. His bright green eyes widened as he grabbed the bedpost by a claw, pulling himself up onto the bed. Seeing her right in front of him, he jumped onto her chest, hissing.

"Pinky, get up!" he whispered as loud as he dared. "It's important!"

The girl yelled and flung her covers off the bed, sending the cat flying and yowling. "Napoleon!" she screeched at full volume, shattering the silence of the condo at night. Her sister's pet and Regent and familiar pulled himself out of the blanket on the ground and shook himself off.

"What the…?!" Napoleon ran up and slammed a paw on her mouth shutting her up. Quieting, but not quenching the fire in her eyes, she pulled him off of her. "Napoleon, you little furball, I was asleep! What are you thinking?" Cornelia was hissing too this time.

"I need to get a hold of Mattie right now!" the familiar said. "Its Heart of Earth business!"

Cornelia sobered up, but her oh-so-short temper reignited as she glanced outside at the few stars flickering through Heatherfield's light dome. "Its not even dawn!" she hissed. "Its too early for Heart of Earth business."

"No, it can't wait Pinky! It's urgent!"

"Well, what's it about?"

"What do you think?!"

"I mean, what _exactly? _Besides Lillian and her power?"

"I'll tell you when I get a hold of Matt! But I can't push the buttons!" Cornelia burst.

"You woke me up from the best dream ever at 3 AM so you could use my PHONE?" she demanded. "Well, here!" She ripped her phone off its charging cord and tossed it to him. "Knock yourself out!" Cornelia grabbed the covers and pulled them over her head.

"How am I supposed to…?"

"Not my problem!"

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**Still a little short...**

**I think i made Cornelia a little mean. But who wouldn't be after waking up because your sister's cat jumped on you at 3 AM? Its happened to me a bunch of times. And not only with the cats, but a 50 pound, smelly dog.**

**I'm probably gonna re-do all my chapters so far, cause my story-idea-ifier is on the fritz. I'll be able to write chapter 4 when the poll is finished (or even has a voter!).**

**L8r 4 now,**

**Tibki**


	2. Chapter 2: Late Night Warnings

**Disclaimer: If i owned Witch, it would so go onto the third season. But it didn't, so ergo, I don't.**

**This is my first ever story! Shiroi Misa's "Hating Myself" and "To Her Regents Three" started me on this thing, and I just have to put it down. I already have it down to chapter 5, but I'm re-doing it so it'll take a while... XD. Thx to my awesome super dooper sister for typing this warning thingy. Ok, she's gone! She just wanted to prove she was a faster typist. Whatever.**

**No fighting here, but it's coming up in chapter 4 and maybe a bit in chapter 3. Who? I can't tell you. It would ruin the suspense :)**

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Matt woke up to the phone by his bed ringing. "Huggles, answer the phone," he murmured, more than two-thirds asleep.

Surprisingly, the dormouse jumped to Matt's bedside table and nudged the speakerphone button on the side. "Thanks…" his owner managed before falling asleep again.

"Mattie?" Napoleon's voice came through. "Kid, you there?"

Huggles squeaked. "That's the rat, so… he's asleep. KID, WAKE UP!" Matt yelled and shot out of bed, Regent instincts making him crouch into a defense position before he recognized it was just a magical cat talking over his cell phone. Completely normal stuff, no danger.

"Napoleon?" he asked, covering his mouth in a huge yawn. "You're lucky Gramps's out like a light after his pills. What's wrong?"

"Heart of Earth business, bud." Matt and Huggles looked at each other. "It's about Earth day…"

"Shoulda guessed," Matt said, sitting down on the bed. "What is that, another power down?"

"Exactly the opposite, Mac. Earth day makes up for Halloween. It's a balance of power thing. Since one day it's at its lowest, on Earth day its it's highest." Matt didn't really see a problem with that, and shrugged.

"So we get a power up."

"Yeah, but sometimes the power spikes…" Now Matt understood, eyes widening.

"You don't mean…"

"Exactly," Napoleon said. "We could fully transform, worst case. Best case, we half transform and try to explain _that_ to anyone nearby."

"Better than going full Shagon in front of the festival tomorrow… oh crap, the festival!" Matt yelped, slamming a hand on his forehead. "I told Mr. Lin I'd help out with the booth. What do I do?"

"Tell him that you couldn't make it because you got sick with the flu or something. The important thing is, you cannot leave the house tomorrow, and neither can the rat."

"He's a dormouse."

"The point is, we've been quarantined until the day after tomorrow. I'm going back to bed, later Mac."

"Night, Napoleon. I'll tell Will in the morning."

Matt hung up and groaned. "As if life wasn't complicated enough. Now we've got power spikes to deal with." Mr. Huggles went up to his master and fellow Regent, nuzzling his hand. "Aw, it's just tomorrow, right? Then life can get back to normal."

Matt chuckled. Normal life to him, Caleb, and the girls was a lot different from your average teen's life. A real normal life would be too boring for them, now that they'd lived through the excitement—not to mention the fear—of the battlefield. He doubted they could even deal with a normal life.

After only 10 minutes, he figured that it was useless trying to sleep now. They were just too awake, an affect of being called in the middle of the night to be taken to battle. If you're tired in battle, you get hurt.

Matt went downstairs quietly, Huggles on his shoulder. Even if his grandfather had taken his pills, the effect would wear off in a while, and then the old man would return to the light sleeper he usually was.

Matt went to the kitchen and started to make some coffee, but thought better of it. He might still go back to bed, and if he did the last thing he needed was caffeine. Finally he made do with a mug of hot cocoa, giving some sunflower seeds from the counter to the dormouse.

His mind started to wander, and it took him back to a thought that had been bugging him for a while. His life, starting from that winter day, when he had followed Will into a portal, had gone topsy-turvy. Hard to believe that a year ago, his biggest worries were his band, his family, his friends, and his grades. Now he, Mr. Huggles, and Napoleon were charged with the power of the world they were born on, and helped out to fight evil threatening the universe. At the time, it just seemed natural, but looking back, he realized that he was a lot different than what he'd been 2 years ago, before Will.

In fact, his mother had pointed it out. Though she was out of town a lot, working trips that actually helped hide the fact that her son was a Regent and had fought his own inner demon right in front of her, she had noticed some things that had changed about him after she came back a week ago.

She'd told him that he was walking a little more stiffly, like he was ready to turn around in a second to stop something. His reflexes had gotten a lot sharper, up to the point of being able to snatch a falling vase from out of the air when she dropped it walking down the stairs. He'd been sitting on the couch, reading, when the vase started falling towards his head. Matt had looked up, and caught the vase in a blur. More proof that the battlefield changed people.

Matt sighed. One of those battlefields was his own mind, a bad memory that kept popping forward every time this came to mind. Even after defeating Shagon, his marks were still there. The most obvious was his Shagon form, which he had a feeling still creeped the girls out a bit. He had to admit, it freaked him out a bit, too. In fact, he doubted Luba even trusted him, especially after the attack on Kandrakar.

But there was more. The missing persons report on him from when Nerissa had captured him was still in the system, besides Irma's attempts at trying to erase it from the system. It felt like it was following him around, like a bug he couldn't slap. It didn't help that Nigel kept dropping hints, asking him to tell him the full story. Like he could without Taranee burning him to a crisp, Hay Lin blowing him to Meridian, Irma drowning him, Cornelia hanging him on a tree, and Will electrocuting him. Besides, it would put Nigel in danger, something that couldn't happen.

And the other thing that kept Matt reminded of Shagon. During their… fight, Matt had finally gotten enough of Shagon pushing him around, and demanded a deal, where the stronger persona won fairly. Getting the demon to agree hadn't been easy, though, and Matt had nearly killed them both by stabbing himself in the chest. The blood was gone, but the scar was still on his heart. When Nigel had seen it in gym, he'd said bicycle accident off the top of his head, wincing inwardly. Not even the girls knew about that; some things were meant to be kept secret.

Matt finished his hot chocolate and put his mug in the sink. Just as he did it, the hair on the back of his neck went straight up, shouting at him that something was happening.

Barely, he heard the front door open a bit, and close just as easily. Matt shut off the lights in the kitchen, watching a dark shape come into the house, carrying a big black thing.

Burglars, Matt realized. Someone was trying to rob the house.

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**A/N: Whoo! Second chapter is up! I know, it's really fast, because I already have a lot of it already written out. Thanks times 12 (cause its like the hardest multiplying table EVER) to fizzymacfizzfizz for being the first to review! This one's mostly about Matt, and I won't lie to you, most of my chapters are. Next one's up soon, I promise! As long as my sister doesn't hog the computer, I'll upload tomorrow!  
Thanks!  
Tibki. **


	3. Chapter 3: FatherSon Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Witch.

There's a bit of fighting in here, not much, though. Sorry, anyone who likes long, descriptive battles, I'm not that good at that. Here's where the new character, but who obviously had to be in here, like a half OC, comes in. 

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Matt (with Huggles on his shoulder) crept through the kitchen and into the living room. The shape was looking around, holding the thing over his shoulder.

Matt went behind the robber, quiet as ever. In a flash, he jumped the man, wrapping his arms around his neck. "You picked the wrong house!" he said as the man bucked in surprise.

"Who are you?" he asked, surprisingly keeping his voice down. "What are you doing here?"

Matt remembered some of the training Caleb had given him before Nerissa and pulled down, letting his feet touch the carpet. That meant that the man got lifted off the floor, and was flung over Matt, onto the couch. The rEgent turned to face the surprised man.

"Could ask you the same thing," he growled. "What're you doing in my house? Everything valuable's in a safe deposit box."

"What are you talking about?" the man on the couch said. "This is my house! Who are you?"

Matt frowned. That voice seemed vaguely familiar… "How do I know you…?"

"Matt?" the shape asked. "Is that you?" Matt dropped his jaw, recognizing the voice. That was his dad's voice! But his dad had disappeared 5 years ago. He'd gone on a business trip to Taiwan and never came back. His mom didn't stop crying for a month, and Gramps had nearly given up on life, sending him to the hospital more than once. Matt had only been 10, but he'd had to learn to take care of himself fast afterwards. His mom was out of the house for a month or more, and his grandfather was either in the shop or in bed for the first year.

"Huggles, hit the lights!" Matt said. The dormouse jumped from the counter, grabbing the light switch as he fell.

Matt looked at the "intruder" as he stood up, and dropped his jaw even further. The man had his black hair, and his grandfather's kind brown eyes. He had a bit of black stubble, like he hadn't shaved in a few days, and his clothes would've been a top-of-the-line suit if it wasn't ripped at the sleeves, torn everywhere else, muddied up, and covered in purple leaves, used as patches. At his waist was a bag made out of purple leaves tied together with vines.

That was his father, after being missing for 5 years.

Matt gulped. "D-Dad?" he asked. Hold it, he told himself. If there's one thing we should've learned by now, it's not to trust anyone immediately. Especially if they've been missing for years. "Huggles, he good?" he asked.

The dormouse jumped up to Matt's shoulder, and squeaked happily. That was all the proof Matt needed.

"DAD!" he yelled, running up to the man. Both Olsens laughed, relieved at finally seeing each other. Matt pulled back first, grinning like mad. "What are you doing here? Where've you been?" he stammered. "It's been… five years! The courts called you dead!"

"I know, I'm so sorry, Matt," he said, hugging his son again. "I've never stopped thinking about you, wondering how you were growing up… you'll never believe my story, Matt, but that's for later, I've got to get to Helen…"

"No use," Matt said, shaking his head. "Mom's somewhere over the pacific. And," he added as his father opened his mouth to say something, "after you left, Grandpa caught a heart condition and he has to take these pills that put him out like a fire."

"Apparently, Helen didn't take my example and stay home for as long as possible," Mr. Olsen said, grimacing. "I'm so sorry, Matt, I shouldn'tve gone on that trip... Honestly, this little guy seemed happier to see me than you at first. Who is he?" he asked, putting a hand out to Mr. Huggles. The dormouse squeaked and ran up the man's arm, twirling around his neck. 

"Oh, sorry, that's Mr. Huggles, my dormouse," Matt said. "He's been around the whole gang. I gave him to Will, who had to give him to Irma, and it went on till he came back to me. Its ok about the trip, it was work. Like mom's got work in... I forgot."

"Work is no excuse," Mr. Olsen said seriously. " We're missing--or missed-- your childhood, and one day you're gonna be out of here, discovering the world. For now though...Mr. Huggles isn't exactly the most boy-ish name."

"Doesn't really matter," Matt grinned back. "No one would mess with Mr. H. They get so scared, most of them live on other planets now." That was true at least.

"Really?" Mr. Olsen asked. "I think i can believe that. but trust me, you will never believe my story. No normal person would… except maybe a little kid. But you're not exactly 10 anymore."

Matt laughed. "There's only a couple things I don't believe, Dad, try me."

"You didn't seem to believe it was me at first."

Now Matt winced. "That's… a long story. I'll tell you one day, but not now. So what's our story?"

"You better sit down," his dad said. "First, I want to give you something. It may be a bit small now, but I had it made a little big anyway…"

He held out the black case. Matt raised his eyebrows, and looked at the gold inscription on it. "To Matt, from your father," it read. "Happy Birthday."

Matt blinked, and opened it. A 5 string, blue guitar was inside, never before used, though the case was a little worn. "I know I missed 5 birthdays, maybe 6 soon, but…" his dad trailed off.

"This is the guitar I asked for when I was nine," Matt said, looking at his dad. "I drew a picture of it and everything… Dad, this is perfect, thanks!" he said. "Wish I had something for you, I mean, we missed 5 or 6 of your birthdays, too."

"Seeing you again is present enough," Mr. Olsen grinned. The pair sat down at the same couch Matt had just thrown him onto. "By the way, how did you flip me over onto this old thing?"

"Um... lets just say I've been busy lately. So, where did you go for 5 years?"

He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "Well, I better start from the start. While I was in Taiwan, uh, I stayed in this hotel. I can't pronounce the name of it, but in English it meant "The Green Dragon", after this old Chinese myth about 4 dragons…"

"Who boiled water into clouds to make rain for the thirsty people," Matt nodded. "The Jade Emperor got mad, and jailed the four dragons. His daughter, Xin Jing, called him cruel and selfish and used her power to free the dragons, who turned into the 4 rivers of China, but all that was left of Xin Jing was a crystal. I know it."

"Someone's been brushing up on their mythology."

"That's myth's had a lot to do with real life. You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but it does."

"Hah, wait till you hear the next part. So, I ordered some Chinese food up to my room, with a fortune cookie, of course. When I opened the cookie, there wasn't any piece of paper inside."

"That's bad luck," Matt pointed out. "Hay Lin had one of those, and… her Grandma went to China for almost two months. Without telling her family or anything."

"Well, this is the hard part. When I opened the cookie, a blue circle flew out and stopped in midair right in front of me. It grew a bit until it was…hmmm… maybe the size of the grandfather clock over there. And," he took a deep breath in, making a sucking sound. "It sucked me in."

By this time, Matt was slack-jawed, eyes wide. Huggles chattered something in surprise. "Th-that was a portal," Matt stammered, barely able to say anything. "You opened a portal… with a fortune cookie! Where'd it go?"

"You know about this?" his father managed, just as surprised as Matt.

"That was a portal between dimensions!" He looked over his dad. "Purple plants… Zamballa! You were on Zamballa!"

"Zamballa?" Mr. Olsen asked. "Who named it? I thought i was the only one there. Well, except for the..."

"The Zamballans," Matt grinned. "The giant, talking, walking trees?"

"Well," rubbed his neck. "I sort of tried to stay away from them. I thought they would eat me, honestly."

"Nah, they eat… well, they're plants. Photosynthesis. Their mouths are just for talking. Well, actually, i don't think you're going to go back there anytime soon anyway."

"I don't think I would," Mr. Olsen said. "I'm glad to be back on Earth, and I'm gonna stay here."

"Yeah, me and the girls were banned from Zamballa a while ago... oh, the girls." This was going to be a hard sell. Cornelia would probably say they should glamour him to forget everything, but Matt was pretty sure everyone else would be on his side. Besides, he doubted the biggest glamour could erase 5 years of memories. And if Irma used her mind control, how would his dad's brain take it? "You should be safe," Matt breathed. "But wait..." he looked at the confused man. "How'd you get back to Earth? We opened a bunch of folds when we were there last, but Hay Lin and Will closed them all."

"All I know is that a few hours ago, it was sunny in the jungle… Zamballa, and next thing I know, there's a blue thing right in front of me, and I jumped in before it disappeared. I came out in Shell Cove, you know the cave?"

"Yeah, we use that for folding to Meridian and Kandrakar a lot," Matt nodded. "It's a good practice place, too. I'll tell you later. Did you see who opened the fold?"

"Well, when I reached the other side, I saw this blonde man and a black-haired woman a bit away, talking about something…"

Matt sat up straighter. "Black hair? Was she wearing purple? Striped stockings and wings?" If it was Nerissa, this could be a major problem. Major, as in, she probably already took over Meridian major.

"Wings?" Mr. Olsen asked. "No, it was just a woman in a black mini skirt and a white shirt. That's all I can tell you, though, it was dark." He yawned. Matt smirked. It wasn't Nerissa, it could just be a couple who were in the woods for a walk, and the fold opened behind them.

 "Fold lag," he diagnosed. "Like jet lag, but between worlds. There's a 12 hour time difference between Earth and Zamballa, and you need to sleep."

"I'm fine, just a little…" He gave a huge yawn. "tired."

"Sure. Fold lag," Matt repeated. "We better get back to sleep anyway, Mr. H. I've got some stuff Mrs. Lin gave me in case we got called out to Zamballa. It can knock you out faster than Gargoyle can, though."

He stood, going to the kitchen. "Don't tell anyone about this," he winked at his dad. Matt reached up to the top cupboard and opened it, reaching inside to pull a hidden latch.

Part of a wall sprung open to reveal a bunch of jars. "She has something for everything," Matt grinned as his father did a double take. "Here," he said, throwing a bottle at him. "Don't drop it, it blows up."

"It what?!"

"Blows up, but only if it hits rug or ceramic. You don't wanna know how I found that out, trust me."

He nodded, carefully drinking the stuff in the bottle. "Eh… tastes like tea… Earl Grey tea, and the good stuff." Matt nodded.

"Well, it's in there, along with a bunch of other stuff she must've gotten from Kandrakar, cause it sure wasn't from Earth."

"How do you know? And what's Kandrakar?"

Matt smirked, as Huggles chattered. "Lets just say that we've got a connection with Earth. We can tell if someone's from Earth or not. Kandrakar's another world, well, more like a floating fortress of light, but still."

"Oh. Who's we?"

"Me, Huggles, and Napoleon, Lillian's cat." Matt grinned. "Questions tomorrow, huh? That stuff's gonna knock you out soon, anyway."

"So we're going to see these girls tomorrow?" Matt stopped halfway out of the kitchen. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Matt gulped. "Um… it's a really, really long story, but I've got to get to my room, like now, and I've got to stay there for the whole day tomorrow."

"Why? Are you sick?"

Matt blinked, hiding his hands behind his back. "Something like that… you see, there's these power spikes that're gonna happen tomorrow, and Huggles and I can't go out in public… I don't think you're even ready for this yet, we'll show you tomorrow, c'mon Huggles!" The pair ran up the stairs, making it into the bedroom in a few seconds. Mr. Olsen chased after them, but was locked out.

"Matt!" he hissed, banging on the door. "Matt, are you ok?"

On the other side, Matt swallowed again. His nails were turning black and quickly growing into claws that Shagon had. It brought back bad memories of him first being turned into Shagon, making him shudder. Huggles, though, seemed to be normal. He squeaked, brining his master back to Earth.

"I'm fine!" Matt called. "Just give me a sec!" Quickly, he pulled up a glamour around him, making him look like his normal self.

He sighed in relief, and opened the door. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "Got a bit freaked."

Mr. Olsen nodded slowly, then saw the condition of Matt's room. "Wow, you ever clean up in here?" he asked. "Looks like Helen's away a lot."

"Yeah," Matt said absently, letting him in. "Its been tough without you, Dad."

"Well, life did go on, right?" he asked. "You've got Huggles, and your grandfather, and your friends, like that Will boy…"

"Will's a girl, Dad," Matt grinned. "It's short for Wilma. She's my girlfriend." Mr. Olsen blinked.

"Girlfriend? Have I seriously been gone for that long?' he asked solemnly. "I missed my boy's first date."

"Well, you're gonna meet her the day after tomorrow, anyway," Matt shrugged. "And its no big deal, you were probably just busy running from some purple tiger or something."

"Not a tiger," he shook his head. "But there was this giant mosquito once that nearly sucked all the blood out of me…"

"Lets exchange battle stories tomorrow, huh?" Matt said, grinning. "You tell me about the mosquito, I'll tell you about the 20 foot snake monster, ok?"

He nodded, then caught sight of Matt's desk. It was covered in sheet music, with his guitar next to it and some CDs stacked nearby. "Wow, you write songs?" he asked, looking at a sheet of music. "Demon in Me… this is heavy stuff, Matt. Not like the songs you wrote when you were a kid."

"That?" Matt said, picking it up. "That was just a message to Will and the others that I was trapped. I kinda went through a bad time in life." He put down the music, and saw another. "This is our band's favorite, though."

He handed him another sheet. "Will to Love…now who does that remind me of?" he asked, grinning. "You wrote this song for Will?"

"Yeah," he said, turning red. "It's really special to us. Helped me get rid of a demon."

"Wow," his father said again. "Looks like you've been doing this for some time."

"Not really," Matt said. "I found out a while ago, like last school year. This is the girls' second, soon to be third year."

"What about the other three years I haven't been here? Anything big happen?" Matt shook his head.

"Just me and Nige forming Wreck 55, our band. It's me, Nigel, and Joel. Pedro was in it too, but he moved to San Diego over winter break. Eric's offered to do Sax in his place, though." Matt shook his head. "You better get to bed, Dad, before you fall on the floor right here."

"It's not that strong, is it?" Matt's look told him everything he needed to know. "Oh. Well, good night, son."

"Night Dad," Matt said, as the man walked out. "Oh, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Mom kept a few of your clothes in the closet," Matt shook his head. "She kept almost everything."

"Including my razor?" he asked, smirking and rubbing his chin. Matt laughed.

"Well, I don't think so, but Gramps gave me one for my 14th birthday. You can use that, I haven't yet."

"Nice to know I didn't miss everything." Matt grinned at his dad.

"Good to have you back Dad," he smiled.

"Good to be back, son. Way good to be back."

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I just noticed something. My chapters are getting almost double as long. Chapter one was almost 520 words, chapter 2 was over 1,300, and chapter 3 is over 3,000. Weird, huh?  
I know, this had a bunch more fluffiness than actual fighting, but Matt throwing his long-lost dad onto a couch would be a shock to Mr. Olsen, huh? I've already got chapter 3 written up, so its ready, but i actually just finished it. So there may be a bit of a wait for chapter 5, sorry! There's nothing i can do about that.  
And yes, there will be music in this story, sooner or later.

As for me, I'm outtie for now!  
Tibki. 


	4. Chapter 4: Discoveries

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Witch. Never will.

Finally, chapter 4! Sorry it took so long, I've been waiting for people to vote on the poll i out up. since 5 out of 6 people voted for this one, that's what i'm going to do. but better late than never, right?

Sorry its so short. The chapter 4 i meant to put up was HUGE, so i had to split it into one shorty and another kinda long one. the kinda long one is still in the works, tho. no action, really, just getting ready to leave.

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_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep! Beep! Beep! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!_

Matt groaned and slammed a hand down on his clock. Hearing a CRUNCH that could not be good, he looked at his fist. It was a bit larger than normal, and over little bits of broken plastic.

"Why am I not surprised?" he groaned, turning over in bed and flipping the covers off.

There were a few black feathers on the mattress when he stood up, but nothing else was showing of his alter ego. And of course, that was when his grandfather opened the door, checking on his grandson.

"Oh, good morning Matt," he said cheerfully. "Did I wake you… what happened to your clock?" he asked, looking at the broken pieces. "And why are there feathers on your bed?"

"Um… I think a raven flew into my room last night," Matt supplied weakly. "Broke my clock and left all those feathers. I'll be sure to shut my window from now on, don't worry."

His grandfather nodded, buying the story, and left the room. Matt saw his father come out of the bathroom when his grandfather was walking down the hall. He was clean shaven now, and didn't seem to care that his father-in-law was walking right in front of him. When the old man had left down the stairs, he went up to Matt.

"He can't see me," Mr. Olsen told his confused son. "Don't know why, but he came in when I had gotten up, with a few of Helen's clothes, and didn't see me at all."

"Gramps can't, but Huggles and I can…" Matt frowned. "Maybe it has something to do with the Heart of Earth. We've got to get hold of Napoleon."

"Who's Napoleon again?"

"Lillian's cat," Matt said vaguely. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number on speed dial. After another Meridian curse word, he said, "Machine. They probably already left for the festival."

"Well, if he knows anything about this, I want to meet him," his father said. "Let's go."

"Dad, I already told you!" Matt sighed. "I'm quarantined here until tomorrow morning. Same with Huggles. We've got to stay here." The pair went downstairs into the kitchen, pulling out cereal and milk. But before they could start eating…

_Ding dong!_

"Who could that be?" Mr. Olsen asked, looking at the door. Matt glanced at the clock and swore.

"My friends," he murmured. Matt went over to the door and pulled it open to Nigel and Eric.

"Hey Matt," Nigel grinned. "You ready?" Matt, thinking fast, came up with an easy lie.

"Uh, actually, no… I'm feeling kind of sick, I think I'm gonna skip the festival today…"

"Don't give us that," Eric shook his head, crossing his arms. "You've been looking forward to this for days, and you look fine!"

"Yeah, you've been wanting to get on the Tunnel with Will for weeks now," Nigel smirked. Matt turned red as his dad, behind him, raised his eyebrows. "Lets go, the girls're waiting for us!"

"And don't forget, we've got a gig," Nigel reminded Matt. "And unless that guy broke out of prison and is coming after you, you can come, right?"

"Prison?" Mr. Olsen asked. Matt winced at the lie.

"Alright, lemme just get my phone and guitar." His friends came in and looked around, waiting as Matt ran into his room, almost slamming the door shut.

His father looked in from the door to see his son pacing and running a hand through his hair. "Planning a fight?" he joked, something he always said when Matt looked nervous.

Matt looked at him, surprised. "A fight? No, I think the girls'd call me if there was a battle going on somewhere." That shocked his father into silence. "I gotta glamour myself," he decided. "Only way I can get in front of that crowd…"

"Maybe you just shouldn't go," Mr. Olsen suggested. Matt shook his head, almost making Huggles fly off.

"No, I already missed almost every single gig and practice during the Shagon Saga—that's why I lied to Nigel about that crook, he doesn't know—and I can't miss this one."

He sighed and shut his eyes. A green ring came from his feet and flew up over his head, laving him under it. His father swore loudly and tripped over a set of clothes.

Matt rushed over and helped him up. "That was graceful," he cracked. "You ok?"

"I-I guess…" he replied. "What was that?"

"A glamour," Matt replied. "It'll keep me looking like me as long as its up. If I--or someone else—pulls it down, I think the black feathers'll give us away."

"Black feathers?"

His son winked at him, picking up his phone and the guitar he'd given him last night. "Can't be a dark angel without wings, Dad."

Matt ran back out of his room, followed by a shocked and confused Mr. Olsen. Nigel and Eric were looking around the kitchen, and Nigel was holding a bottle right above his mouth.

Matt looked at the purple inside and swore. "Nigel, don't drink that!" he yelled, grabbing it. His friends looked at him, surprised. "Where'd you find this?" Matt demanded, after reading the label. Elyon had labeled it in Metamoorian so no one else could read "Power Booster". She'd given a bottle to each of them, like an emergency energy bar. But if a normal person drank it... the results weren't good.

"Over there," Eric motioned to the top shelf. "It was just sitting there. We were just looking for a snack."

Matt remembered that he'd been too lazy to put it in the special hidden cabinet a few weeks ago and had completely forgotten about it. "Well, you were really lucky I got here," he told them. "This is rat poison, Nige. Special, really strong rat poison my dad used to use for his office."

"Well, it doesn't say rat poison. I can't even read that."

"It's Korean," Matt lied off the top of his head. "Dad brought it home before he disappeared in Taiwan."

He put it back in the cupboard, making a mental note to hide it before someone did drink it.

"Your dad disappeared?" Eric asked.

Matt glanced over his shoulder at his dad, who was smiling. "Yeah… he went to a hotel in Taiwan, ordered Chinese, and wasn't seen again. I was 10." Nigel clapped his friend on the back sympathetically.

"Courts declared him dead a little while ago," Nigel explained. "Hit them all hard."

A sudden thought popped into Matt's mind. _How in the name of Kandrakar am I supposed to explain this to Mom and Gramps? I can't just say, "Hey, I've been lying to you for the past 2 years, I've got powers and Dad's just been trapped on a jungle planet we were banished from for the last five years and now he's back!" Man, the girls are gonna KILL me._

_"We'd better go," Nigel added. "Don't wanna be late."_

* * *

See? Ultra-short. I just broke the doubling-numbers-per-chap thingy. oh well, whatever.

hope you liked it! r&r, plz!

Au revoir, Tibki


	5. Chapter 5: A Necklace and a Killer Light

**Disclaimer: I no own Witch... didn't we go over this already?**

**Hiz! I have to say srryz for 2 things. the 1st, obviously, that I took so long updating. srry bout that, life has been hard lately what with 2 adv. sciences, adv. math, and other various things having to do with the difficulties of freshman life. Whoever said life was easy was never a freshman. ever.**

**2ndly, i have to say srry, cuz...  
i lied! (breaks down sobbing) turns out there wont b any fighting here, just a lot of flying, and possibly a few VERY shocked ppl :)**

**on the bright side, here's the newest chapter!**

* * *

The Garden, the Necklace, and the Light

They left the house and started walking toward the Silver Dragon. On the way, they talked about a few things, partially bringing Matt's dad up to date on what had happened over the last couple of years.

"I feel bad for Martin," Eric nodded. "Always going after Irma though she doesn't want him."

"Yeah," Matt admitted, "but you've gotta look at Irma's side. Would you want a girl going after you 24/7, calling you sugarbeetle?" They all laughed at that. "Besides, Will told me an old camp friend of hers asked her to meet up at the festival."

"Who?" Nigel asked.

"Stephen."

"That blonde dude?" Eric asked.

"Oh yeah. She's head over heels about him. Forgot who Andrew was yesterday because of him." Eric and Nigel whistled in admiration. "So what're you guys gonna do when we get there?"

"Ferris Wheel, maybe some food…" Nigel flushed. "Tunnel of Love…" Matt and Eric laughed and dutifully started teasing him.

They walked on for a bit more, reaching the alleys in the city. Most of them looked like they fit in an old gang movie, dark and wet.

Suddenly, Matt stopped walking. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and Huggles chirped uneasily on his shoulder. Matt glanced at his pet, who was cleaning his head.

"Feel that?" he whispered as the other guys walked on, unaware. Huggles chirped again. "Good or bad?" After a little while, Huggles shrugged. "Hmmmm."

"What's the matter?" his dad asked.

"Dunno," Matt replied. Mr. Olsen saw something change about his son. Instead of the laid back, cool boy he'd raised, someone else was there. Someone who'd been through wars and knew when something bad was coming. He looked like a cat who'd smelled a dog. "Can't be good, though. Huggles doesn't freak out about a lot."

"He's a dormouse. They freak out over birds."

"Not Huggles. He took on a sorceress who could throw lightning without a flinch." He looked ahead and saw his friends still walking. "Hey guys, wait up!" he called, running towards them.

Eric and Nigel turned and stopped walking. "What's up?" Nigel asked, recognizing that face. "Something wrong?"

"Bad feeling," Matt replied.

"So? Your gut's _never_ right!" Nigel laughed. "You're not exactly the best liar on Earth, either." Matt straightened. "I mean, seriously, you lose every game of poker we play!"

Matt relaxed as they kept walking. "Oh, yeah. I guess I am."

"Worst liar on Earth?" his dad asked from behind. "Yeah, sure. And I'm gonna sprout wings and fly!"

Matt chuckled as his friends talked together for a little. "Don't jinx it," he murmured.

As they passed an alley, Huggles chirped loudly in Matt's ear. Matt shouted, both in pain and surprise (Huggles could be REALLY loud when he wanted to be) and the dormouse jumped off his shoulder and ran down an alley.

"Huggles!" Matt yelled, running after his pet. His friends and Dad followed him through the maze of alleyways, after the white rodent.

Soon, they turned the last corner and saw Huggles standing on a dumpster. He looked straight at Matt and chirped, jumping behind it.

"Huggles!" Matt groaned. "C'mon guys, help me out here."

Nigel, Eric, Matt, and Mr. Olsen pushed the dumpster away to show Huggles standing next to a bright red fern. There was green grass growing over the asphalt, and daisies were pushing their way up.

"Whoa, street garden," Nigel said.

"Where the Red Fern Grows, more like," Eric added. The others stared at him. "It was on my summer reading list last year. They say it only grows where and angel touches the earth?"

_There should be ferns growing everywhere I go,_ something in the back of Matt's mind said. He smirked a little, but quickly stopped as Huggles tugged on what looked like a leather cord.

"Whatcha got there, buddy?" he asked, pulling it out of his mouth. Something was stuck in the dirt, and stuck hard. He pulled hard, even putting a little of his "extra" strength into it, but it wouldn't come out. Something told him it had to, though.

"Mind helping me, guys?" he asked.

"Just leave it, we need to be going," Nigel suggested.

Matt shook his head. "It's important," he said decisively, like that was the end of things. "Help me out here."

Eric shrugged and grabbed a part of the cord, pulling with Matt. Nigel looked around, then knelt next to them and pulled. "This… is nuts!" he groaned as they pulled in vain. "_Why_ is this thing so important?"

"Cuz if Huggles thinks we need to get it out, we need to get it out," Matt said back. "Now _pull._"

It wasn't until both Mr. Olsen and Huggles joined in that it started to budge. "It's moving!" Matt said. "C'mon guys, its almost out!"

One more huge pull brought it out.

Unfortunately, it also brought something else out. "Something else" in the form of a bright white that exploded from the hole in the ground and flew skyward.

Matt instinctively pushed his friend back from the light, backing up himself. In his hand was a small round jewel, blue with green spots, attached at the top to a thick leather strap. He looked at it and swore darkly, immediately recognizing it for what it was.

"Oh, sh--!"

Before he could finish, though, the white light sailed back down toward him. Matt turned and started running in the opposite direction at full speed, instincts screaming that this thing wasn't good news for him.

Soon though, he reached a dead end in the maze of alleyways in the city, and the light was gaining fast. His friends and Dad were right behind it, but he couldn't be able to glamour them into forgetting this whole thing if he wasn't alive.

Matt looked into the blue above him. Only way out was up.

He transformed as fast as he could, not even bothering to hold back a laugh at his friends and Dad's faces, and took to the air just as the laser hit the wall.

He could still hear his friends freaking out below him as the chase in the sky began. Matt used every single aerial move he knew, from barrel rolls to 90-degree dives, but the beam stayed right behind him. He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. The thing was fast.

Thinking quick, he dove toward his dad, who had Mr. Huggles on his shoulder. Mr. Olsen yelped and ducked, but Huggles jumped up into Mat's arms.

"Mr. H, take this," Matt said, giving the dormouse the necklace. "Make _sure_ it gets to Napoleon." The dormouse squeaked something, like he was protesting leaving his master there. Matt coiled the leather around his neck, letting the pendant hang there.

He dove again, dropping the rodent onto Nigel's head as the boy started running. Huggles jumped off, running back under Matt as he neared the ground for a few seconds. Matt looked below at him, and didn't watch here he was going.

Eric was frozen stiff right in front of him when he did look up, and Matt just pulled up in time to avoid hitting him. Unfortunately, that slowed him down enough for the light to hit him.

It wasn't _painful_, exactly, but it certainly wasn't a circus. It felt like he was in an amusement park ride that was spinning him around so fast he was about to barf, with the belt extra-tight against his chest.

It only lasted about 5 seconds, but that was more than enough for Matt. The light disappeared, leaving him hang 10 feet in the air for about a half of a second. Then Matt, who'd changed back into his normal form, started falling.

Before any of them could reach him, Matt hit the ground, hard. He lay there, spread-eagled, for a few seconds. Mr. Huggles immediately ran toward him, followed by Mr. Olsen and Nigel and Eric.

"M-M-Matt?" his father asked wearily.

The Regent didn't move for a second. Then his eyebrows met and he let out a groan that could've shamed a bloodthirsty zombie and made them all take a step back.

"Dad?" he asked carefully, opening his eyes a little. "That you?"

"Yes, son, I'm right here." Nigel and Eric both spun, looking for the source of the voice.

"Help Huggles… he needs to get to the Silver Dragon… Give the pendant to Napoleon… or tell the girls to… they should be able to see you…" He noticed Huggles on his shoulder. "Huggles, take care of them."

"C'mon, we've got to get you to a hospital," his dad decided.

"How… do you think the nurses'll react… when a guy comes floating into the ER?" Matt laughed. "I'll be fine. Get the pendant… to the Silver Dragon."

His eyes grew wide suddenly. "Get out of the way!" he yelled.

Huggles immediately jumped off his chest to the edge of the alley, but the others didn't have his instincts. As it was, Mr. Olsen was lucky enough that he was just an inch away from the final burst of white light, but Nigel and Eric weren't. They were hit full blast by it, sending them onto the ground.

Just like before, it was over in less than 10 seconds. The light disappeared, leaving absolutely nothing in the alley. The boys were gone.

* * *

**I hate cliffhangers. But that's what this thng is. srry bout that... im in a very apologizy mood today...**

**srry for the short A/N, but my dad is calling me to study chemistry. like i didnt have enough studying already (did chem all weekend and physics today. just add that to my list.), but apparently my grade isnt good at a hi b, so i must go!**

**peace, Tibki**

**ps: plz r&r. thx!**


	6. Chapter 6: Two Wallets or OMGEEZUS

**IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS? IT IS!**

**THE LONG AWAITED SIXTH CHAPTER OF EARTH DAY!**

**It's been almost two years. I have no excuse. Throw what stones, what decayed vegetables, what perfectly good food that will soon disappear down my gullet, you will, and I will not try and make it better. I deserve it.**

**If you'd read the last notice on my profile, I'd be grateful-it might explain why I found this thing and decided to dust it off. I was looking around the backups I'd managed to save and found this. It's short, I'm warning you, and a little bit less compared tot eh writing I've been doing lately. But here it is.**

**DISCLAIMER: It's good to be doing one of these again. Not mine!**

* * *

The alleyway was quiet, like nothing had happened to it at all. The little street garden had disappeared, leaving the dumpster. Even the place where Matt had hit the wall and knocked loose a few bricks looked like it had before the whole thing.

Mr. Olsen shook his head, trying to clear the spots from his eyes. "Matt?" he called, almost blindly. "Matt, are you there? Nigel? Eric?"

No answer from any of the boys. But, just below him was a small squeaking noise that sounded suspiciously like a certain dormouse he knew. He knelt and let Mr. Huggles, who still had the necklace wrapped around his throat, scramble onto his shoulder.

Slowly, the spots in his vision cleared and he could see the alley, the boys nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd they go?" he asked, worried about his son. _If that was his son_, something in him couldn't help but add. "I mean, really, the Matt I knew before couldn't do all of that! What if he wasn't even Matt, just someone or something disguised as Matt?" he asked, of all things, the dormouse. "I mean, he seemed to know _you_ more than _me!_"

Huggles chattered something in reply, then jumped off the man. He ran over to the dumpster and started pulling on a brown leather wallet that was partially hidden by the shadow.

Mr. Olsen picked up both and flipped the wallet open. It was Matt's, his student ID in the front. Where normal credit cards would be was a tiny photo album of people with Matt, ranging in subject from five girls crowding around him to four other guys at Dave and Buster's. The last one in the tiny album was a photo that sparked a memory in his mind, one of the whole Olsen family at Christmastime when Matt was 8.

Mr. Olsen reached into the bag he'd never let leave his side on Zamballa and pulled out the durable, perfectly made duct tape wallet made by Matt at age 5. In the front was the same photo, the one thing that kept him going, that made him keep fighting against killer trees and giant mosquitoes. Just the faint hope of seeing his family again.

And now, just as he got his son back, someone had ripped him away again. He wouldn't stand for that.

"But what should I do?" he asked. "I don't know where they are, why they got taken there, and who put them there." He looked at his only companion and saw the necklace around him. "Hey, that's the…"

He reached for it, but the dormouse hissed and scratched his hand. Mr. Olsen swore and pulled his hand back, temper flaring. "That thing's why Matt and Nigel and Eric are missing," he growled. "Who wants it and why?" he demanded of the dormouse. Immediately he felt stupid-he was talking to a _rodent_-and flushed deeply.

Mr. Huggles grabbed the wallet back and grabbed a picture of Matt and a cute redhead (probably Will) and pulled.

Behind it was another photo. Mr. Olsen took the thing again and pulled the ID out. A small sheet of paper fell out, with Matt's handwriting on it.

_To whoever finds this paper:_

_Congrats, you found my wallet, and since it was probably Huggles that told you how to find this note, I'm probably missing by some magical means. If this is found off of Earth, look behind the pictures for what my friends and I probably look like right about now. If you found this and I'm not around, bring it to Hay Lin at the Silver Dragon on Earth ASAP._

_ Matt._

Mr. Olsen pulled every hidden picture out of the wallet, spreading them out in front of him. Matt, as the angel, two furry beasts, five fairies that looked suspiciously like the girls, and tall boy with a sword next to a blondish girl. The last one held several folded up photos of snakemen, monsters, five other fairies, different from the girls, and a man and a woman.

"My Lord…" he said quietly. "You fought all of these things?" he asked, mostly to himself. Huggles took it as a question to himself and tapped the woman and the man. Mr. Olsen stared at him.

"You…" This time the little guy went over to the picture of the white beast and tapped it. "That's…" Huggles squeaked.

"Apparently, _you_ know more about this than I do," Mr. Olsen said, with new respect for the dormouse. After all, it'd kind of be pretty bad to be eaten by his son's pet. "So now we go to this Dragon place?"

Huggles nodded and pawed the note. "I think remember that place, Chen lives there with his family, his wife, mother and kid, Hay…" He looked at the photo. "Oh. Let's go."

He grabbed the photos, the dormouse, and the wallet and started walking out of the alley.

* * *

**Told ya it was short. But here it is. I meant to make Mr. Olsen seem kinda in shock, I think (I wrote this two years ago, don't blame me if it's a little strange to me!), and I hope I didn't do too badly.**

**I'll put the next chapter up tomorrow, and maybe even begin writing again the day after. ;)**

**I have to be honest here: I was ready to pack up Earth Day once and for all. Therefore, I owe mega thanks to certain reviewers who shall remain unmentioned (don't be lazy like me, and go look them up!) that Potter Puppet Pals Bothered me until I posted once more. This goes out to you guys! ROCK ON! lml**

**Until next time, PEACE**

**~Tibki**


	7. Chapter 7: We're Doing This MY Way

**I told you guys I'd update again! Tibki is back, and with a newfound vengeance to finish this thingy!**

**Unfortunately, this is depressingly short. ~dodges flying fruit~ Dang, you guys throw a lot of food. Let me know when we get to the top of the food pyramid, okay? Snickers bars are my favorite!**

**Seriously, though, when I wrote it in 2009, this chapter was IMMENSE. Like, not even funny huge. So I split it down the middle and rewrote it. Next chapter will be long, I assure you-and in my current writing style, too! :) Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Did I say how good it feels to be doing these again? Well, it lost its novelty. W.I.T.C.H. ain't mine.**

* * *

Will was having trouble. The wind was up, no matter how much Hay Lin tried to stop it, and was nearly blowing the tent over. That's basically all the Silver Dragon's booth was, anyway, a tailgating tent with heaters on two sides, one covered with a counter, and one open towards the restaurant.

As if the gusts weren't enough, the heaters themselves were on the blink. Taranee had asked what was wrong and quickly got a surprise-it was a Japanese brand of heater. Will had been attempting to translate for her (her mother once invited a Japanese coworker to their house in Fadden Hills and he taught her a little Japanese), but their conversation had quickly gone way over her head.

Hay Lin and Irma were carting food out from the building, still warm in their platters, even if they were cooling rapidly without the working heaters. Cornelia was busy hanging paper lanterns on the edges of the tent, using a chair and an impeccable sense of balance.

"Any luck, T?" the Earth Guardian asked.

"Something about a bad flame," she replied, with Will's nod. "That could mean anything. Something could be wrong with the pilot light, the tube could be clogged, we could be out of gas…"

All 5 girls winced as a storm of Japanese yelling came into their ears from the heaters. "Ok, they're out of gas, apparently," she finished, rubbing her left ear. "Hay Lin, do you have another can?"

"Somewhere here," the girl said perkily (did she ever say anything unperkily?). "Be right back!"

Will, now with nothing to do, sat down and checked Ed, her phone. No calls, no texts, and Matt was late. She groaned and sat back in the little chair.

"He still hasn't called?" Cornelia asked. Will shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." In actual fact, she was worried too, but not for the same reasons. Matt had promised to get Caleb from Meridian (some Lurdon uprising had taken him back), but with Matt missing, he couldn't come. "Right, Mira?" she asked the old Chinese lady as she came outside. "You... _are_ Mira, right?"

"You got it," she said, winking. "And you should listen to her, Will. In my experiences—well, Yannie's experiences—friends of ours in the know are usually all right unless there's a mushroom cloud or a number of screams coming from one direction."

They all stared at her, but she didn't say another word.

"Well, I don't see any mushroom cloud, but they're still late," Taranee said, breaking the silence. "Did you call him yet?" she asked Will.

"I don't want him to think I don't…"

"It's been half an hour, he'll understand," Irma said. "I want you guys to leave with your boys the same time I do!" Stephen had _called_ to say he would be late, at least.

"Maybe just one call…" Will relented. She pulled out Ed and said, "Ed, can you call Matt for me please?"

_"Finally! I thought you'd never call that boy!"_ The girls giggled as Will blushed. _"Speaker or headset?"_

"Speaker. It's not like we're going to be talking about Nerissa over the phone." The buzzing noise came over Ed, and after 2 rings, another noise wafted over the crowd of people on the sidewalk.

_What I've done! I'll face myself, and cross out what I've become! Erase myself, and let go of all…. I've…. Done!_

The girls froze at the implications of the song. Though admittedly a great song, Matt had always winced at the way the inner meaning affected him, and rarely did any of them play it. "You don't think…?" Hay Lin asked.

"Of course not, Matt got over all that, didn't he?" Cornelia said, hating that it sounded like a question.

"I don't think anyone could," the fire Guardian said quietly.

"Yeah, being turned into a hate demon isn't exactly something you forget," Irma added.

"I don't think he put that on there," Taranee told them. "I mean, of all of us, it hit Matt the hardest. He was there the whole time, even when we didn't know it. _Hearing_ this song starts making him feel guilty. Putting it as his ringtone? I don't think so. Maybe one of the boys put it on there."

But even though his phone was ringing, Matt was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a man in jeans and a shirt, with a purple vine waist bag was holding Matt's phone, looking at the word 'Will' on the screen.

Will saw this and ran over, snatching the phone from the man. He jumped at the girl, surprised.

"Thief!" she said, pointing at him. "This is my boyfriend's phone!"

"So you're Will?" he asked almost calmly.

"Darn right I am!" she said. "What are you doing with Matt's phone?" She looked in his eyes.

The man had soft brown irises, like Matt's grandfather, and black hair like Matt. He sort of looked like a mix between Mr. Olsen and his grandson, at about 35. "Who are you?" the redhead demanded.

Mr. Olsen saw a single spark run through the girl's cherry red hair and smirked. This was Will, all right. "Peter Olsen," he said, holding his hand out to the shocked girl. "You're Will, right? Mattie's girlfriend?" She nodded carefully. "I'm his father, nice to meet you."

"Um… likewise… where _is_ Matt?" she asked.

"That's a long story," he said, smile gone. "One I don't think I should tell out here." Will raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I know the big secret. At least a little bit."

The Quintessence Guardian gasped. "He _told_?" she hissed.

Before he knew what happened, Mr. Olsen was inisde the _Silver Dragon_ and forced into a booth by five teenaged girls. A girl he recognized as little Irmie, 5 years older, slammed her fists down on the table.

"Hay Hay, hit the lights, we're gonna do this _my_ way."

* * *

**Rut roh. Mr. Olsen in trouble now! **

**I have the next chapter up, too! And the one after that! But I'll only update once a day, sorry. So, barring death and horrible injury, or the dreaded summer courses, you'll have a new chapter tomorrow and the day after!**

**If you liked it, hated it, think I'm insane, or discovered the meaning of life through my so-called "works", then tell me about it by pressing this button...**

**HERE  
****l  
****v**


	8. Chapter 8:Interrogation and ZOMG Cat

**Whoot! Keeping my promise!**

**Here's today's chapter! And guess what? It's a monster! Seriously, Dr. Frankenstein and Frankie Jr. have nothing on me and this baby. Absolutely nothing. And I actually wrote this one recently, so it's brand spanking new for you guys!**

**Anyway, I don't want to make you read any more than you have to, so enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: Not mine.**

* * *

Mr. Olsen swallowed in, admittedly, fear. In most circumstances, it would have been ridiculous that he was actually _afraid_ of five teenage girls, but lately he was rarely in any situation that would fit under 'most circumstances'. He'd been teleported to an alien planet inhabited by violet flora and not much else five years ago and had only just returned, only to have his now-nearly-grown son grow feathers and disappear with two of his friends.

'Most circumstances' had stopped applying to him a long time ago.

So therefore, it was perfectly understandable that he was afraid of these girls. Especially with the bright pink sparks flying through Will's hair. Those looked like they could hurt.

A white light caught his attention and tore his gaze from Will's hair, only for him to wince and turn away once more as the overload hit his retinas. Irma was holding a large flashlight about three inches from his face, her face turned slightly and fixed with an eye-narrowed, nose-scrunched scowl she must have been practicing.

"What… is your name?" the girl asked. Mr. Olsen took a moment to remember the troll from _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_.

"Peter Olsen," he replied after a moment, unable to keep a smile from crossing his face at the thought.

However, it quickly slipped from his lips when the Chinese girl he assumed was Hay Lin frowned at him. "Why were you smiling?" she demanded, eyes narrowing as well. "Most people don't smile when they're saying their name—unless they think they're tricking someone into believing it's their name when it's really not!"

Irma nodded to her friend before moving her face just as close as the really painful flashlight. "EEEEH! Wrong answer, buddy. Peter Olsen, the father of our very own Matthew Ovid Olsen, Regent of Earth and Knight of Meridian, disappeared five years ago during a trip to Taiwan. He was never seen again and was declared dead three years ago. I'mma try this nicely once more—who are you?"

_Oh crap, I'm in trouble now,_ some part of him realized as all five girls glared at him. "I told you, my name's Peter Olsen! Matt's my son, his grandfather is my father, his mother is my wife!"

Their disbelieving glares didn't even falter, seemingly boring holes into his body like a solid pillar of biblical flame into flimsy tissue paper. Mr. Olsen even swore he saw flames in the African-American girl's glasses. He swallowed and pressed further into the seat to distance himself from them.

Irma scowled, her hands curling into fists on the table. "I don't think you understand, '_Mr. Olsen'_, just how serious we are. If you don't tell us your given name _right now_, I swear to _God_ you will wake up in the Tower of Mists not even knowing how you got there!"

A smooth hand landed on Irma's shoulder. Both she and Mr. Olsen turned up to see a stony-faced Cornelia staring at him. "Irma, don't break him asking him who he is," she said calmly. "We need to know other things—like where he's from, who he works for, and who told him our secret."

"I'm from Heatherfield, I work for a company, and Matt told me!"

The girl with the flaming glasses glared at him, making him back even further into the seat. "Matt promised not to tell a soul about us," she said in a calm voice, one that scared him even more than the shouts Irma was releasing into his ear. "And if there's one thing any of us know about Matt Olsen, it's that he can be trusted with his promises. _He never breaks them._"

"Cornelia's right." All faces turned as Will spoke up for the first time. Mr. Olsen saw unshed tears in the corners of the redhead's eyes, making them shine in the minimum light. His heart went out to the girl, even as she and her friends held him basically hostage. "Who he is doesn't matter. What matters is what he's done with Matt and why."

Bright brown eyes leveled with his, pleading at him, begging for information on her boyfriend. Mr. Olsen sighed and looked down. "I—I'm sorry Will. I don't know what happened to Matt."

"Don't you lie to her!" Irma warned in a fairly loud voice in very close proximity, popping his eardrums. "She can do a lot worse to you than any of us can!"

"I'm not lying!" Mr. Olsen snapped in reply. What would it take for these girls to understand?

"Then why did you have Matt's phone, huh?" Hay Lin demanded. "And how do you know who we are? Mr. Olsen never even met Will, and she's the first one you recognized!"

Mr. Olsen sighed and met all five girls' gazes evenly. "If you'd stop interrogating me long enough for me to explain, I'll be able to tell you everything."

"The truth?" Will asked seriously. "Because I swear, if you're lying…"

He held up his hands, shaking his head. "I'll tell only the truth, 100% of it, with nothing left out, I swear on everything I hold near and dear." He turned up to Irma and allowed himself a small scowl. "If you'd stop _blinding_ and _deafening_ me, though, it'd be easier."

Irma _hmph_ed and switched off the lights, not even bothering to tell Hay Lin to turn on the main lamps. Once the restaurant seemed normal once more, Mr. Olsen sighed and began his story, watching them all very carefully.

He told them about the Green Dragon restaurant in Taiwan, catching the glances the girls threw each other at the slight mention of the myth. Matt had said that the legend had a lot to do with everyday life now—if they were good friends of his, they would know what he had been talking about.

As he went on, retelling his arrival in Zambala, he saw how each girl reacted—Taranee had winced, Hay Lin had sat up in interest, Irma had grown even more suspicious, and Cornelia and Will kept an impeccable pokerface. He explained how Matt had thrown him in the living room and actually got reactions out of the whole group—a mixture of giggles and muttered 'Caleb's. When he told them about how Matt had told him he'd needed to stay quarantined and how Matt's grandfather wasn't able to see him, they'd frowned as one, deep in thought.

"Then the doorbell rang," he continued, watching as the five girls traded meaningful looks. He'd always said that girls were telepathic to some extent, able to understand a full, unspoken paragraph with a simple glance, but this was ridiculous. "Matt told me it was a couple of his friends and when he opened the door it was Nigel and some kid named Eric…"

"Nigel?" Now the spectacled girl was on her feet, her glare from before trumped and defeated easily by the one she was now destroying Mr. Olsen with. Now that he thought of it, he remembered that Nigel had mentioned a girl named Taranee on the walk over—that had to be her.

"Eric?" Hay Lin repeated, her already large eyes widening even further. "They were with Matt?" She closed her eyes and shook her head, clenching her fists to her side. "No, not Eric, he's out of this, he's not supposed to be touched…"

"Where are they?" Taranee demanded, as loudly as Irma had, the flames building in her lenses. "_What_ did you do to our _boyfriends_?"

"Nothing, I swear!" Mr. Olsen replied, holding his palms up in what he hoped was a non-threatening position. "I didn't touch Nigel and Eric—they couldn't even see me! Matt went into his room and pulled up something he called a glamour so he wouldn't grow feathers—his words, not mine!—and then we all left for the festival."

Shocked into silence, the girls continued listening as Mr. Olsen regaled the rest of his story, finishing within minutes. After he was done, the room fell into an uncomfortable silence as his audience absorbed what he'd just said, surprise and confusion more than apparent on their faces.

"So… some sort of pillar of light that could've come from _Star Trek_, originating from behind a city dumpster, carried our boyfriends away and left you in an alley with a dormouse and some sort of necklace?" Hay Lin summed it up, looking directly at him. Mr. Olsen nodded. "Well, honestly, that's the most plausible thing you've said yet. I believe him."

The others turned to the Asian girl, surprised. She looked at them and shrugged. "Think about it, guys, how strange is that compared to the rest of what we've lived through?"

"Now _that_ is a good point," Irma admitted, a sly smirk crossing her face. "I'm still not sure if you're Matt's daddy, but I can definitely believe the whole alley thing."

"I still don't know," Taranee said suspiciously. Cornelia didn't say a word, just kept her gaze on Mr. Olsen, as if she could stare the truth out of him. Will gained his attention once more by walking over to his side.

The redhead looked down at him for a moment, and the room fell back into silence. Mr. Olsen couldn't tear his eyes from her eyes, full of emotions he couldn't read and brimming with so many other things. After what seemed like an eternity, she shook her head.

"Where's Huggles? You said he made it out with you."

Mr. Olsen nodded and looked down, untying the violet rope from around his waist. He could have taken it off when he changed from his tattered old suit, but he'd been carrying it around for five years non-stop and habits were hard to break, especially if they were good ones. Everything in that bag would survive if his camp was destroyed and he could use anything inside if he got into a fight.

He gently set the vine bag on the table, aware of the watchful gazes of the girls. Mr. Olsen had met several seasoned policemen and federal agents—whenever you pulled out a bag they hadn't checked themselves, they'd kept at least one wary eye on it, in case of any weapons. The girls had that same stare, and it made Mr. Olsen frown. Girls this age shouldn't be distrustful of these kinds of things.

Out of the bag came a duct tape wallet, a small collection of dried fruits, a stone that had been sharpened on one end and covered with a leaf sheath, and wrapped around a small stick on the other, and finally, a small, soft ball of white fluff.

"He fell asleep on the way here," Mr. Olsen explained, putting the dormouse down on the table. "Nearly fell off my shoulder, so I put him in there for safety. The necklace is wound around him, just like I said."

"Oh, poor Huggles!" Hay Lin squealed, rushing to the table and picking up the animal. "I wonder why he's so tired. He's never gone to sleep in the middle of the day, not as long as I've known him."

"You haven't known him any longer than the rest of us," Taranee pointed out.

"Well, has he ever fallen asleep during the day in that time?" she asked in reply. Careful not to wake him, she pulled the necklace from around his furry neck, holding it out for the others to see.

"Urgh, someone needs a new fashion sense," Cornelia grunted, glaring at the object. "What is it?"

Mr. Olsen shrugged. "I really don't know. Matt just told me to give the pendant to either someone named Napoleon or you five." He ran a hand through his hair. "To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that I've dealt with talking trees and mosquitoes the size of minivans for the past five years, I'd've had a heart attack when Matt… did whatever he did."

"He transformed into a Dark Angel," Will explained absently, looking at the pendant in Hay Lin's hand. "Wait, if _Matt_ told you to show it to _Napoleon_…"

"It has something to do with the Heart of Earth!" Cornelia realized along with her. Her glare on Mr. Olsen doubled. "You'd better hope _nothing_ of what you said was a lie."

"Oh yeah," Irma replied, still smirking. "Corny's mad now. $hit just got serious."

"Irma!"

"Guys, stop fighting!" Will said, cutting the argument off immediately. Mr. Olsen looked around, seeing the other four looking up to Will, and decided she must have been the leader of the group. "Can you show us where it happened?" she asked seriously.

Mr. Olsen plotted the way back in his mind and nodded. "It's not that far from here. We could be there in less than ten minutes."

"Wait, Will, what if it's a trap?" Taranee asked, still watching the older man. "How do we know he's not tricking us? How do we know anything he's said is true?"

Cornelia spoke up in reply. "Taranee, I don't trust him either, but it's not like we have much a choice. He's our only link to the boys, and to this thing's connection with the Heart of Earth." The girl's shoulders slumped and she nodded. "Besides, he's telling the truth about tone thing—those vines and fruits are definitely from Zamballa."

_She must know a lot about the plants there,_ he thought. Those particular plants had been among the _very_ few that hadn't bitten back when he cut or picked them. "What else is in the bag?" Cornelia asked, probably more curious than anything. "It's not plantlife, but I think there's still something there."

Mr. Olsen blinked at her, surprised. _How could she tell?_ "Just a couple things I found at my winter hideout, Rockholm." Taranee snorted—she seemed smart, she'd probably read _Swiss Family Robinson_ and gotten the connection. "There were a lot of strange things in there last winter." He dug out a few more objects. "Fire-burned stone, which is strange because fire's a really rare thing on Zamballa." Here Taranee winced. "Ice that doesn't seem to melt whatever heat I put into it, and…"

The last two objects were pulled out of the bottom of the bag—a pair of massive feathers, one white as the purest new-fallen snow and one as deep black as the farthest outreaches of empty space. Five pairs of eyes went wide at the sight of them. "They're huge, way too big for any bird I saw," he explained, putting them on the table.

Will's hands immediately scrambled for the black one, stroking it gently. "It's Matt's," she realized, reeling in surprise. "How did you get a hold of this?"

"Wait." Irma looked over Mr. Olsen. "Is this Sherock Holmes a quarry kinda in the middle of the forest?"

He nodded, also surprised. "Yeah, _Rockholm_ is a quarry. I stayed in the caves inside when snow started to fall. Why?"

He noticed that Will was now looking at the feather with a mixed expression on her face. "That's where Shagon and the Knights of Destruction…"

Mr. Olsen looked at her sympathetically and stood, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him—he decided it was nice not to have to look up to a teenage girl, even if she was apparently very powerful. "I'm not sure who this Shagon guy is, but I know Matt, after he… transformed or whatever, had feathers just like this one. So this is his, right?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Matt's." A strong determination filled her eyes and Will's gaze met his, not wavering at all. "No offense, but I'm still not sure I trust you. However, you're our only hope of getting a clue as to where Matt, Nigel, and Eric have gone, so we're going to follow you, okay?" He nodded in reply. "Just show us where it all happened. We can go from there."

Mr. Olsen heard, very clearly, Cornelia bend over Taranee's ear and whisper "If he doesn't kill us first."

_The Hale Apartment_

Napoleon had been enjoying a quiet day when it had happened.

He didn't get many of those. Being the pet, let alone familiar, to a ten-year-old girl was a full-time job, brimming with dress-up time and dolls. He resented the dress-up more than anyone could ever believe, and the pictures Cornelia had taken even more, but his loyalty and love for Lillian let him see past major embarrassment.

Yeah, Napoleon loved Lillian. He would readily admit it to anyone who asked, even if they mentioned the tiring and embarrassing trials he was put through daily. She might have been annoying sometimes, and others he really wished he could say something to her without her learning her magical secret, but he never stopped loving her.

Underneath the annoying part, beneath the outer shell of a bratty 10-year-old, was a truly beautiful little girl. She cared about her sister and family more than she'd like to admit and was sweeter than she seemed. All her toys were treated with utmost care and even Napoleon himself was never shoved into a dress. She had to force him every time, yes, but her hands were always gentle.

That was one of the reasons he was so glad to be her familiar. He'd heard of familiars who ended up with 100% spoiled brats as masters and how hard they'd had to work not to let them turn evil. No familiar _wanted_ to serve an evil master—those assigned to the people who were irreversible had their own morals twisted, something none of them wanted.

Napoleon was so relieved that she wasn't one of those children that he almost tolerated the dress-up times.

Almost.

So when Lillian had decided to sleep and stay in that one Saturday, Napoleon silently thanked whomever was listening for both her and his day off. It was bad enough that he'd have to fight to stay out of her sight all day, but he hadn't had a break since just about Halloween.

After catching the news from Mrs. Hale as she attempted to wake Lillian at eight thirty, Napoleon had joyfully prepared himself for a day of luxury and laziness. First he'd glamoured himself normal in the empty formal dining room, before spending an hour on the softest couch in the house, cleaning every inch of himself. Every cat cared about self-presentation, and familiars were no exception.

Afterwards, he ate the canned food from his bowl and managed to beg a can of tuna from Mr. Hale. When Cornelia had left at nine, Napoleon sneaked into her room and laid on the fuzzy pillows, thinking back to his days as a carefree kitten in the Olsen pet shop with a perfectly noticeable grin.

Mrs. Hale hadn't taken his sleeping on the furniture well, and the down point of his day was her kicking him out of the room. However, he wasn't that easily swayed, and found a better, _warmer_ place on top of the fresh clothes from the dryer in the laundry room.

That's where he was when his perfect day ended.

He'd been enjoying doing nothing for the last half hour when a single, pointed shock jolted the insides in his chest. Napoleon immediately sat up, his eyes widening in surprise.

Slowly, not painfully, but extremely slowly, something intangible behind his heart shifted inside his ribcage. It was as if someone had taken a jigsaw puzzle and was carefully taking it apart, replacing the pieces in a separate order and making an entirely new picture.

Napoleon swallowed extremely nervously—nothing about his insides should be sifting, the very least of them the power of the Heart of Earth. He closed his eyes and tried to force it back to the way it had been, tried to pick up the pieces and replace them, as they _should_ have been, but something was forcing them to move.

He pushed against it, hard, his face probably scrunching in a manner similar to a person with not nearly enough fiber in their diet. Napoleon kept at it, but eventually, he had to stop. Whatever was preventing him wasn't pushing him away, but patiently waiting for him to wear himself down.

He wasn't about to give in that easily.

With a newfound second strength, the cat shoved harder, even making the magic go back towards normal for some amount of time. He smiled, his canines showing as he realized that it was working.

But a second strength, even one fueled by the loyal duty of a familiar, could only last so long. Napoleon didn't realize this until it suddenly disappeared, leaving him to collapse weakly against the towels, falling unconscious in the real world, but fully aware of what was occurring inside of him.

Without Napoleon to stop it, the force worked quickly, disassembling the intricate patterns of magic that had imbedded itself into his being when he'd accepted his duties as a familiar. Webs and waves of power were torn down, only to be rebuilt in an entirely new structure, mysterious and unknown to the feline.

Napoleon's nerves from before were nothing compared to what he had now. This was _not_ supposed to happen. _Never_ had it happened before, not in all the times he knew of various familiars under magical beings. The magic itself had never been directly affect, changed so much even the familiar had trouble recognizing it. Shock rippled through the cat's consciousness and worry tore through him.

_Lillian_ was the only word in his mind. Part of him acknowledged worry over his fellow Regents, Matt and Huggles, but the largest part was worried over his mistress. They knew and would have understood; they would have been the same way. They were a eam, true, but a team meant to protect and defend one thing: Lillian. She was more important than any separate one of them.

He had to get to her, to make sure she was okay, that she was alive and as unmagical and happy as she'd ever been, but he couldn't. As much as his mind was working, his body was limp and still, unconscious from the exhaustion brought forth from his fight against the force. It was keeping him down, so it could finish whatever the #ell it was doing.

Finally, it was done. The shifting pieces inside his chest stopped with a final, almost audible _snap_. Another shock ran through his system and Napoleon felt his body slowly wake from its unnatural sleep.

Now back in control, he didn't take the time to stretch and instead immediately shot out of the room, blowing past Mr. and Mrs. Hale and sprinting towards the youngest Hale's bedroom.

_Lillian Lillian Lillian Lillian…_

The door was closed and locked. He'd give it once chance before knocking it down, adults or not—this was deadly serious. He had to know if he was okay, because that same thing in his chest was telling him that something about Lillian had changed just as it had.

He scratched frantically at the door, scraping paint off with his claws with each swipe. He'd get yelled at later, but he found he really didn't care. _Lillian Lillian Lillian…_

The door cracked open and Napoleon shot inside, looking around for his mistress, his hackles already raised in case of danger.

What he saw made his hackles, not to mention his mouth, fall to the ground.

* * *

**Ooooh, cliffie. :) Sorry, but I won't get back to Napoleon and Lillian for a bit, so you're just gonna have to keep guessing about what this kitty's seeing. I'm going to be doing a lot of view jumping, from these two to the girls and Mr. Olsen, and eventually Matt, Nigel, and Eric. Next up is more of the girls. Sorry if you're growing sick of them, but that's the way it is. I haven't actually written the boys' part yet... ~rubs back of neck nervously~**

**Anyway. As this is a monster chapter, there is a good chance of mistakes within it. If you see one, please put it in review and I'll fix it up.**

**Tell me if you like it, hate it, don't really care about it, or simply think I am FREAKING INSANE HAHAHA by pressing the button right...**

**Herel  
v **


	9. Chapter 9: A Walk Down Trust Avenue

**Well, so far so good. Here's today's chapter!**

**We're back with Mr. Olsen and W.I.T.C.H.. This is mostly the way over to the alley and inside the alley itself. I hate to say it, but this is mostly a filler chapter. :(**

**But I still think you can enjoy it. So... enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: I wish on the North Star every night that I own W.I.T.C.H., but Jiminy Cricket lied to me. :(**

* * *

_The Streets of Heatherfield:_

"So what you're telling me is that hundreds of CDs can now fit into these tiny little things called ip-ods?" Mr. Olsen looked down at the small pink square Irma had let him hold, following the bright blue wires connected to the top of it to a pair of small circular things called "earbuds". "Amazing."

"IPods," Irma corrected, holding up a finger in a way reminiscent of a master teaching a young grasshopper. "And not just songs—most iPods can also hold a multitude of movies, episodes of TV shows, and games to play when you're bored and have nothing else to do, like solitaire."

He turned the small device over in his hands. Earth technology had grown really, really advanced over just the five years he'd been gone. The passing rumor he'd heard about in his travels years back about Apple's groundbreaking new technology now had several sequels, "generations" as Irma had put it. Cars, while not flying yet, now had different ways of being powered—gas, electric, something called _hybrid,_ and a hydrogen cell that Taranee had been forced to explain—no one else had known how it worked.

Unfortunately, he'd also learned of the tragedies that had marred the United States during his absence. The girls had reluctantly admitted small truths about the 9/11 attacks, the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a record-breaking storm known as Hurricane Katrina that New Orleans and Biloxi were _still_ recovering from. The number of deaths that had affected their country in the last few years alone had made them all grow silent for several minutes.

Then Irma, in a way that assured Mr. Olsen that she hadn't changed all that much from the five-year-old he'd first met or the 8-year-old he'd last seen, had shattered the silence by showing him the latest teenage technology.

"That really is amazing," he said, handing the music player back to its owner. "But, uh… if you guys don't mind, could I ask you a question?"

The girls all turned to him but didn't stop their crowd-splitting pace, Hay Lin even turning backwards and urging several people into dodging her as she kept walking. The festival had kicked off and the streets of downtown Heatherfield were now filled to the brim with people of all origins, making walking a straight, continuous line very difficult, especially for a man invisible to most of the public. Several people had run straight into him, but he'd managed to get out of the way before they could cry ghost or something like that.

"That depends on what the question is," Cornelia replied, putting a hand behind her head and flipping her hair over her shoulder. Several autumn-gold leaves flew out it, flittering to the ground. However, her blank blue stare was nothing compared to the distrustful brown one from Taranee. She was apparently extremely protective of Nigel.

"I'm not going to ask anything about your secret," he promised, holding up his right hand. "All I want to know is… how did Matt get pulled _into_ your secret? He told me you guys knew about magic before him. And, and why does he look the way he does after his transformation? He told me that he was a Dark Angel, but I'm not exactly sure what that is, and I have to wonder if he's even still…"

"Whoa there!" Will had done a double take at the barrage of questions coming from the older man. Mr. Olsen had the decency to turn slightly red. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "You've gotta understand, Mr. Olsen, his secret and ours cross paths a _lot_. We can't answer most of your questions without revealing more about us, and that's a bad idea if we don't _all_ know we can _fully_ trust you."

Something in Mr. Olsen's stomach didn't sit right with those words. They stung, for sure, but he didn't let that show and it wasn't the main problem. These were young girls, they weren't supposed to have trust problems like this.

Still, he lowered his head. "I…I'm sorry. But I haven't seen Matt in five years, and now I found out all of a sudden that he's got _wings_ and not to mention a _girlfriend_… He's my son." He looked up and met Will's eyes. "I haven't been able to be there for him for most of his life, and _I want to fix that_. But I won't be able to unless I know more about what happened before now."

The girls looked at each other, silent. He couldn't blame them—he was asking them to divulge secrets they were probably spending most of their time fighting to keep under covers, away from the eyes of the people.

Mr. Olsen was about to give up and tell them to never mind, when, to all their surprises, Taranee led the group to a stop and spoke up.

"Matt didn't know about magic when he started dating Will," she admitted. "He probably just thought she was a nice girl…"

"With an excellent taste in friends," Irma added with a grin, throwing an arm around Will. The redhead smiled but didn't say anything.

Hay Lin took over. "A couple years ago, someone took something pretty important to all of us, especially Will. He carried it off Earth and onto another planet called Meridian."

"Is that like Zamballa?"

Irma shook her head. "Think less _Planet of the Apes_ and more Far Far Away from _Shrek 2_."

"Oh."

From here, Will took over. "After we went through the portal, Matt followed us, because we were always disappearing and, well, he was curious. We ended up in basically the North Pole of Meridian and after we met up, we followed the tracks of the thief to where he was going to give the Heart—that's what was stolen—to one of our worst enemies. We got the Heart back and Matt saw us transform. When we got back to Earth, we explained everything to him and he promised to tell anyone about what he saw."

"Matt would rather die then break his promises," Hay Lin continued. "That's why we doubted that he actually told you anything, much less transformed in front of you."

Mr. Olsen honestly didn't like the sound of that. Was one promise really worth his son's life. "But he wasn't… _magical_ then, was he?" he asked. "I'm sure he wasn't when I disappeared."

"He wasn't," Cornelia replied shortly. "That came a few months later, _after_ he tried to prove he could fight by learning swordsmanship with Caleb and charging an evil, extremely powerful prince of an alternate dimension with a single sword." Mr. Olsen's eyes nearly fell from their sockets.

Pushing those questions back, he focused on the subject at hand. "So how did he get… like he is?"

The girls quieted once more. Will cleared her throat, catching their attention once more. "It's… what we call the Shagon Saga," she explained hesitantly. "It's really really personal and way too long for any of our likings. The gist of it is that an evil witch kidnapped him and turned Huggles and Matt into a monster fueled by other people's anger and a demon that fed off of hate, specifically mine. He threw off the spell eventually, and for a couple days he and Huggles were put back to normal."

"For a few days?" Mr. Olsen looked around the group. "Then what happened?"

Cornelia stepped forward, a heavily protective look on her face. "Also, really personal," she said curtly, biting each syllable. "All you need to know is that Matt, Huggles, and Napoleon were turned back into two beasts and a Dark Angel, but don't feed off of emotion and are good guys now."

He nodded, wisely backing away from the fight she was promising if he pressed it. If these were normal circumstances, he would have been able to take her, but once again, normal no longer applied.

"That's why we're worried about what you told us," Will added. "Matt was entrusted with a lot of power and with him missing, both it and he are in major danger. I don't want any of us to go through another Shagon Saga, and I really don't want him kidnapped again."

Mr. Olsen nodded and glanced once more at the collection of girls. They were five separate people and all different, to be sure, but collectively he could tell they were a force to be reckoned with. Will and Cornelia both seemed extremely concerned about Matt, even more so than the rest of the girls. Will he understood, but he was curious about Cornelia's worry. She and Matt had known each other since grade school, but they'd never had much in common and were never close.

At least, before now.

He sighed and stood. "I don't know if he's been kidnapped or what, but I know he's missing and he's my son as much as he is your friend… and boyfriend. Whatever I can do to help get him back, I will. You doubt me, I really don't care, but you can be assured that you don't have to doubt _that._"

The girls nodded as one and followed as he led them towards the alley once more. Mr. Olsen knew, just _knew_ that they were talking about him back there, but he didn't mind much. They were still suspicious of him, after all. It was tiring, yes, but when they found Matt, they'd learn he was telling the truth. Eventually.

"Mr. Olsen?"

Pulled out of his thoughts, he turned and saw Hay Lin showing her brace-covered teeth to him in an enormous grin. "I dunno about the others, and I dunno if you really are Matt's dad, but I do think you really do care about him."

He smiled warmly at the friendly Chinese girl.

Maybe 'eventually' would come sooner than he thought.

Or maybe it would take a lot longer.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," Irma chimed sarcastically, looking over the perfectly normal alley. "This is _definitely_ a battlefield. I mean, look at all this wreckage!"

Taranee looked around and turned, sending a glare Mr. Olsen's way. "This had better not have been a trick."

"No, I swear it wasn't!"

Unfortunately for Mr. Olsen, Will and Cornelia turned against him as well. "Matt would only transform if he was up against a wall," Cornelia said, her anger quickly growing visible on her once calm face. "That usually means that whenever he does it leads to a lot of destruction—there's none here."

"You _lied_ to us," Will growled, sparks flying through her locks. "Taranee was right—you did something to Nigel and Eric and _Matt_ and you _tricked_ us into coming here, probably for some sort of trap!"

"No, really, it's no…!"

The flames in Taranee's glasses were back. "Tell us where they are and what you've done to them. _Now._"

"I didn't—!"

"I can't believe I trusted you." Hay Lin's words probably hurt the worst. She seemed to be holding back tears, and backed away to accept a hug from Irma.

"You _can_ trust me, I didn't…" Mr. Olsen swallowed and stepped backwards towards the very back of the alley as they came forward towards him, none of their faces looking very nice to him. "I promise, it wasn't…"

_Eeeeeek!_

The noise caught the attention of the girls. Looking towards the source, they saw Mr. Huggles wiggle his way out of Mr. Olsen's bag, climbing up his flannel shirt and twisting around his neck.

A little hair entered Mr. Olsen's nose and he sneezed, earning another squeak from his son's pet, but otherwise the dormouse stayed around his neck.

The change in the girls was immediate. They went from distrustful, angry Furies to shocked and—guilty?—teenage girls in the space of three seconds. Will seemed to have lost all blood in her face, suddenly pale as a sheet of computer paper.

"Mr. Huggles?" she asked quietly. The dormouse chirped at the girl and ran around Mr. Olsen's collarbone once more. The man winced—Huggles apparently hadn't been declawed.

Apologetic looks were apparently the flavor of the day, because all five girls took one on at once. "Uh…" Mr. Olsen looked around in confusion. "Not that I mind it, just the opposite really, but why the sudden change in demeanor?"

Hay Lin grew a small smile, a much, much smaller version of the 10,000-watt grin she'd given him before. "Mr. Huggles is like an evil detection radar. If there's someone with ill intention in 100 yards, he'll go nuts on 'em! He can't even stand anyone lying."

The little rodent squeaked in what seemed to be agreement and stood on Mr. Olsen's head, much like he did for Matt. The girls looked at the entire picture and giggled, making the man flush once more.

"Oh yeah, that's definitely Matt's dad," Irma laughed. "Only an Olsen gets the Huggles Highwire Head Act!"

Will stepped forward and held her hands out to Mr. Olsen's sternum. Mr. Huggles leapt from his perch and landed neatly in her palms, scurrying around her neck as well. Now looking almost as red as her hair, Will cleared her throat and chuckled. "So… I guess you weren't lying. I'm… sorry about… you know."

Mr. Olsen smiled. "Apology accepted, Will. Now, let's get my son back, okay? I don't think I want him away from a girl that loves him this much for that long."

Will turned an even darker shade of red, before regaining that determined look and turning to her friends.

"Alright guys, spread out. Anything and everything that'll help us find out where Matt, Nige, and Eric are. We're getting our boys back."

* * *

**Determined Will is determined.**

**So yeah, not really an exciting chapter here, but the next one is going to be much better, I assure you. Why? BECAUSE WE CATCH UP WITH MATT. YESH. :D**

**Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed. Personally, the anonymous review about Napoleon getting a new dress made my entire day! I laughed so hard my Dad offered me a ride to the local asylum.**

**If you liked this chapter, despised it with every fibre (that's British for fiber) of your being, or think I should accept Dad's offer, tell me about it by pressing the button right...**

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	10. Chapter 10: MATT'S ORDEAL

**~Drum roll; Tibki comes out on stage with a mic and a spotlight~**

**And now, the chapter you have been waiting nearly two years for: MATT'S ORDEAL.**

**DUN DUN DUUUUUH.**

**That's right. We are finding out what exactly happened to Matt after he was kidnapped by the Star Trek light! It's fairly long, 2000 words without this little intro thingymabob, but hey, it's a long awaited chapter.**

**I'm not going to keep you from it any longer. So, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm running out of ideas to make this thing funny. Anyway, I no own.**

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_Somewhere…. Else?_

No matter how many times he went through it, Matt would never get used to waking up from involuntary unconsciousness.

He'd been through it more times than he'd like to admit—a majority of those times came from the Shagon Saga, but a good amount resulted from the fights during his training with Caleb and normal battle scenes. If anyone had ever taken a poll, he would have to lie about the number because otherwise strange questions would begun to be asked.

Most victims of trauma-induced unconsciousness woke slowly, their body diligently making sure nothing was permanently injured by carefully waking every nerve fiber, one by one. Consciousness would return first, then feeling in the back, arms, hands, legs, knees, feet, and finally the sense as the eyelids opened.

That never happened with Matt.

As usual, he woke with a jolt, as if he'd had a nightmare that still couldn't hold a candle to his actual life. Every nerve in his body was up and on high alert at once, reporting no pain but a lot of discomfort; both his legs had fallen asleep and were currently being stabbed by pins and needles.

The boy bent over and began rubbing his shins, hoping to get circulation back into them before whatever knocked him out could attack again. He looked around, searching for any clue about his whereabouts.

Absolutely none came, though, because wherever he was, it was completely and 100% pitch dark. He consciously blinked a few times to make sure his eyes were actually open before letting out a fairly dirty Meridian curse word under his breath.

Matt closed his eyes and let the rest of his senses take over—his uncle, who'd died shortly after his father's disappearance, had been blind and had taught him to use each of his five senses to their maximum. Of course, it didn't hurt when he used a little of his magic to affect just _how_ well he could hear, touch, smell, or see.

Cold metal was pressed against his ankles—shackles, and good ones too. Not the kind like in Meridian's jails that he could break without transforming into Shaggy. A nearly inaudible, constant humming was coming from in front of him, like a fan for some sort of high-tech piece of machinery. The ground was made of something too smooth to be in any kind of dungeon and the air was way too clean to be anything but filtered.

All evidence pointed towards him still being on Earth, but Matt wanted to be sure. If he had been taken hostage, then it was preferable he'd still be on his home planet—not only would it be easier for him to return home, but he was always a bit stronger on Earth.

The Regent inhaled a lungful of air and let it out slowly, in the way Napoleon had showed how, to better connect with the shard of power imbedded inside of him. Feeling inside of himself, he found the warm, pulsing ball of golden magic; his third of the Earth's Heart's power.

Subconsciously, Matt smiled as he willed the energy to grow and spread, watching as it reached every cell in his body and went even further, seeping into the ground and traveling deep, deep into the planet's core.

Sure enough, the magic flared like a solar storm once it hit the very center. If it had been any other planet or dimension, even, the power would've simply bounced back without doing anything. Instead, it circled three times before flying back towards him, reabsorbing back into his body.

"Alright, so at least I'm still on Earth," he muttered, taking another look around the dark room. _'But why am I _here_, wherever here is?'_ Matt wondered, frowning in thought. _'What _happened_…?'_

His head snapped up as he remembered. _Of course!_ His father showing up in the middle of the night, walking to the Earth Day Festival with him and Nigel and Eric, Huggles going nuts over that dumpster and the necklace hidden behind it, and then…

Matt swallowed. "Uh oh." He'd transformed in front of Nigel and Eric. At the time he'd seen it as an only option, but now he was kicking himself for it. Those two were supposed to stay _out_ of the whole 'magic' deal. Hay Lin and Taranee had absolutely refused to even think about hinting them the truth when the question came up.

The girls were going to _kill_ him _very_ dead.

He should've ducked, levitated to run down the side of the wall, _anything_ but Regent up in front of those two. His dad had already heard him say he was a Dark Angel and was already in on magic anyway, but not as close as Eric and Nige were. _Anything_ else could've been explained by his training sessions with Caleb. Losing that secret would've been bad, but still okay compared to…

"$hit, dmn, fu(k, I am such a motherfu(king _idiot_!"

"_And a bad-mouthed one at that."_

Matt immediately closed his mouth, narrowing his eyes and whipping his head around for the source of the voice. It wasn't one he recognized—and older man, possibly Japanese—and that meant a possible new enemy. Great. That was the thing he needed this week.

"_Over here, Matthew Olsen."_

He winced and turned away as a bath of blue light flooded his dilated pupils. After he'd gotten more used to it, he looked up towards it's source.

The machine he'd heard before was apparently a massive screen, turned off before and now holding the image of a man, yup, he was Asian, in a bright white suit.

The man smirked, looking down on the captive boy with a glint of hatred in his eyes. Matt knew that look _all_ too well—the very sight of it often made him want to vomit, but he held it in. Upchucking in front of a guy who'd just put you in shackles was a bad idea.

And disgusting. Who knew when it'd get cleaned up?

That smirk told him this guy was all-too-sure of himself. He needed to knock him off his high horse a little, throw him off so he could find a weak point and use it to escape. Matt couldn't afford to seem worried.

"Well, you know my name, but you have me at a disadvantage," Matt replied, leaning back against the wall behind him and putting his hands on the back of his neck, slouching in the picture-perfect disrespectful teenager stereotype.

It worked. The smirk quickly became a scowl. Matt inwardly grinned—this guy didn't like disrespectful, fine. He could be rebellious. He, admittedly _attempted_, to help Caleb and the girls with Phobos and you don't get much more rebellious than a dethroning mob of medieval citizens.

"_Takeda. That's all you need to know,"_ the man said through his scowl. Matt nodded, filing away the name for research later. _"I suppose you're wondering why we captured you?"_

Matt shrugged. "Eh. A lotta people want me. I'm more interested in _how_. You responsible for the beam of light?" Takeda huffed. "Taking that as a yes. For future reference, though, _Takeda_, those things are really pretty cliché. They went out of style after the _Star Trek_ movie came out. A copter might work better next time, or even a team of ninjas trained in some dojo on a mountain whose name I can't pronounce. You'll have to work fast on that one, though, it's going too."

A beautifully red vein appeared on the man's forehead. Matt smirked. Though he rarely used it, raising people's blood pressure was a talent of his.

"And what's with this place? I mean, are you trying to copy _Megamind_ or _Pit and the Pendulum or _something? Dark and scary with a giant computer screen coming out of nowhere. _That's_ original. By the way, you might want to make the lights a little dimmer at first before your big reveal. What's a blind hostage gonna do for you? Fall of the overly cliché bridge during the swapout cause he can't see the rail. I mean, seriously…"

"_SHUT UP!"_ Matt quieted, grinning in triumph. Takeda looked like an over-ripe tomato and was becoming even redder. He had to be more careful, though. If this guy had a heart attack it could spell even further danger for him. _"You evil creature, don't you open your mouth again!"_

Matt snorted. "_You_ kidnapped an innocent 15-year-old kid and _I'm_ evil. Sure. Whatever, dude."

Takeda, instead of blowing even further, however, grew a very large, very troubling smirk over his lips. Matt narrowed his eyes—that wasn't good. What was this guy up to?

"_Innocent, you say?"_ he repeated. _"How innocent is a demon, I wonder?"_

Matt flinched at the insult—if there was one thing he still hated, even after learning so much from the Shagon Saga about that particular emotion, it was being called a demon. After Lillian had transformed him once more, there had been an unspoken agreement that the term was 'Dark Angel', a completely separate thing from what Shagon had been.

However, he recovered and leveled a glare at his capturer. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said flatly. "Go get some mental help, why don't…"

Takeda pulled out a remote and clicked a single button. The screen disappeared in a flurry of static before changing into a security camera's view of a very familiar alley. The timestamp moved forward as it began to play.

A miniature, digital version of Matt appeared on the screen, running from a streak of static that followed him down the alleyway. When the image-Matt reached the back of the alley, he turned around and faced the oncoming beam before…

The real Matt winced as he witnessed his own transformation, caught by a candid camera he really should've checked for. Takeda's voice, dubbed over the image that had rewound and replayed, spoke again. _"Not so innocent, now are you?"_

"Still not evil," Matt replied shortly. "And if you know that I can do that, what makes you think I can't get out of these?"

Takeda was the one who snorted now, the screen shifting back to his face. _"You think I hadn't thought of that? Those chains are magic-proof, Olsen. Zap them, blast them, pull on them with super-strength, it'll get you nowhere. Those, just like everything in this building, as well as the teleportation device, were made especially for magical beings like _you._"_ Matt winced at the malice behind those words.

"Why would you capture me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Takeda glared at the boy. _"I represent the Earthen division of a multi-dimensional organization devoted to the cause of eradicating magic from each of our respective planets."_ Matt's eyes widened. _"That's right, demon, including you and your silly friends, those… Guardian girls. We will have to exterminate every one of you to save our worlds and homes from the influence of your evil."_

Anger bubbled through Matt's mind at the word 'exterminate'. Fury pounded his ears as he saw that that was exactly what he planned on doing to the girls—to _Will_. Unknown to him, his uncontrolled anger affected his powers and set off two of his most telling affects—the glowing green eyes and deeper voice that Shagon held. "If you hurt any of them, Takeda, I swear, you'll _wish_ I was a self-serving demon. Their worst attacks are _nothing _compared to what I'd do to you."

Takeda blinked at the sudden change in the boy, but only raised an eyebrow otherwise. _"I'm sure. The girls will be joining you shortly, and my part of the plan will be finished. Without the Guardians to protect Kandrakar, the center of the multiverse's magic will fall and earth shall be safe once more."_

"And condemned just like the rest of the planets," Matt replied, shouting. "They're called the _Guardians_ of the _Infinite Realms_ for a reason! They _protect_ them, and I can assure you, whatever made you hate them, they had nothing to do with!"

"_I don't need your lies."_ Takeda crossed his arms. _"My contacts in the other worlds have told me just what the Guardians have done to the planets—burning an entire jungle, dethroning a rightful prince, and I distinctly remember a story of a demon attacking several innocents at a dock."_

Matt turned away from the screen. He remembered that all right—remembered that he watched Shagon use _his_ body to nearly kill Will and her parents, let alone everyone else on the docks that night. Most times he saw that as a minor victory—he'd kept Shaggy from killing Will, after all—but he wasn't going to tell that to this guy.

Suddenly, a very scary thought hit Matt. He looked back up at Takeda, who smiled at the boy's panicked face. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, worry taking him over. In most cases, villains didn't reveal their plan unless they were sure you wouldn't live to see its outcome.

Takeda smiled. _"Well, it's not as if you'll remember this anyway,"_ he said as he pressed another button on his remote.

"Wait, what're you…?"

In the blue-ish light of the screen, Matt saw an enormous amount of circular panels fold up, revealing fans embedded in the floor. Greenish smoke, thick as the proverbial pea soup, began pouring from every one of them.

The smoke quickly filled the room, forcing its way into his lungs like hundreds of slimy insects crawling down his throat and digging into his alveoli. Matt clutched his throat as he coughed and choked, tears streaming down his face as the gas stung his eyes. His primal instincts kicked in at the lack of oxygen in his system and forced him to take in massive breaths, and therefore more of the horrible gas.

Even worse than the affect on his lungs and eyes, though, was the change that was occurring deep inside his ribcage, just under his sternum. Behind his heart, hidden from any other's view, something was yanked, torn from its place and taken to somewhere far, leaving an empty space that hurt more than the stinging feeling ever could. Matt howled in pain, the tears coming from his eyes no longer solely from the irritation.

Matt fell to his side, still grasping his neck, quickly starting to lose consciousness and only vaguely registering how a far-off door seemed to open and close, and how matching _thuds_ echoed in the room.

Before he even heard his fellow captives begin coughing, everything went black and Matt fell into a never-ending pit.

* * *

**Oh noes! Matt's unconscious and someone is locked in there with him! What will happen? Will I keep my promise to update daily? Will my sister ever get off her iTouch? Is that bacon I smell?**

**I hope Matt's humor was in character. I'm not a very funny person; that's my little sisters.**

**Anyone who reads the W.I.T.C.H. comics knows who Takeda is. If you don't, all you need to know is he's a jerk father to two kids, and does research on _cold_. That's right-_cold_. He really really hates magic and saying anything else would ruin the series.**

**Anyway. If you've gotten this far in the story, you know the spiel: don't hold back and tell me what you think by pressing the button**

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	11. Chapter 11: 2nd in Command & Astronomer

**And voila, I am keeping up with my promises.**

**I think this chapter is nice and healthy-sized. And it catches up with Nigel and Eric, so, bonus! Not going to bother you further, so...**

**DISCLAIMER: Disclaimed.**

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_Somewhere… Else?_

"There has to be some sort of scientific reason behind all of this… Maybe there was some sort of fume in the alley and we went high for some amount of time? Or-or maybe we tripped and got knocked out on the concrete and all of that was a hallucination brought forth by a concussion!"

Nigel sighed, cradling his cheek in one palm. Eric had been pacing around their cell for the past two hours, right after waking up. Trying to find some 'scientific solution' for what they'd witnessed in the alley three seconds before losing consciousness. It was honestly really annoying.

"And _how_ does that explain where we are right now?" he asked dryly, motioning around them. They'd both woken on cots—the cheap kind, just some canvas stretched across two poles—within 20 minutes of each other. The room, though it really seemed more like a holding cell with the locked door, was plain white from the tiles to the smooth ceiling, two fluorescent lights embedded in it.

Nigel had remained stretched out on his cot. Eric had leapt to his feet the moment he was conscious and began freaking out. In all honesty, Nige wasn't doing so well either—his best friend from Kindergarten had had a freakish bird-human-lizard growth spurt within three seconds and they themselves had been kidnapped by a beam of freaking light, for God's sake—but someone had to stay sane. His father had told him when he was little, when everyone else is freaking out, be the first one to remain calm. A horde of panicked people fed on itself and could become highly deadly and could be stopped by one person with a rational mind.

Apparently Mr. Lyndon had not told his son the same thing.

Eric griped his black curls, pulling hard, but at least ceasing his pacing. "I don't know, I just know that what we saw can… NOT be real!" Nigel groaned as the boy started walking once more. Black streaks marked the ground where his sneakers had worn their rubber onto it over several hundred circular paths. "Matt… cannot _be_ that freaky monster demon THING."

Nigel shook his head and stood, finally having enough of the boy. He put his hands on Eric's shoulders, stopping the infernal pacing, and met his eyes directly. "Maybe he is, maybe he's not," he said evenly. "I don't know. But even if he is, he's still our friend, remember?"

"How do you know?" the other boy asked in reply. "We can't be sure that it was Matt at all!"

It was true—that same scenario had run through Nigel's head several times. But it was all disproved by one thing. "Eric, listen to me. You heard Matt after he went back to normal—he may have been spouting some _crazy_ stuff, but I _know_ that was Matt. He was hurt, but he was still making jokes and he tried to warn us to get out of the way of that light thingy. I've been buddies with Matt for a _long_ time, and if there's one thing about him I know, it's that he'll care for anyone else before himself. Guy's got a hero complex, a really annoying stupid one, but one he can't help."

"But he grew _wings_ and a _tail!_"

Nigel shrugged, trying not to show just how much that bothered him too. "Yeah, maybe. So maybe Matt's some sort of magical mutant demon angel thing from another planet, but _he's still Matt_. That means nothing's changed otherwise."

Eric seemed to think this over hesitantly before finally nodding, calming down. Nigel held back a groan of relief—about _time_—and sat back down on the cot. "Okay, you're right. You're absolutely right. But then… now what?"

As much as he hated to admit it, Nigel was not a leader. He knew that and accepted it, even if his male ego refused to. He wasn't strong nor confident in all his actions and while he wouldn't balk in the face of danger, he felt better when someone else had the reins. That was probably why he was so good friends with Matt; the guy had been marked as a leader from the start, when he led his capture-the-flag team to victory in Kindergarten. Nigel had been the second-in-command and had stayed in that position, perfectly comfortable as long as Matt was there.

The summer that his best friend had gone to his grandmother's in Florida, Nigel had sought a new leader… and only found Uriah and his goons with him in Heatherfield. The admittance he hated was nothing compared to the mistakes he'd made that summer and the beginning of that school year.

Luckily, his beautiful Taranee had pulled him out of that downward spiral and he'd rejoined the group of friends he belonged with, with the guys and the girls who'd never let him go astray.

However, he knew that Eric was even less of a leader than he; the boy had only lived in Heatherfield for a year and had yet to grow used to the strange mannerisms of the city. The entire place seemed normal at first, second, and even third glance, but a look into its underbelly revealed some interesting things. Strange lights in dark alleys, buildings that had been damaged for no apparent reason, sightings of purple and green streaks through the city at all times of the day, that disgusting smell around even empty dumpsters, not to mention the crazy cartoon that had captured everyone's attention a few weeks ago.

Nigel sighed and rubbed his face, pushing his cherry-red hair out of his eyes, allowing himself just a moment to relax and momentarily freak out. Repressed emotions would hurt him in the long run, he knew.

He opened his eyes again, meeting Eric's open face squarely, a newfound determination inside his heart. He was the second-in-command, and that meant taking over when the leader was missing. Wars continued with the second-in-command in the head position, be it a war of capture-the-flag or whatever the #ell they'd just gotten themselves into.

He'd be able to take over temporarily. As long as it was temporary.

"Alright. Since _we_ got taken, that means Matt probably was too. He's the interesting one anyway. And since we don't know who can come break us out, we're going to break _ourselves_ out."

Eric frowned at Nigel. "How, exactly? The door's locked and there's no other way out."

Nigel smirked and reached into his back pocket, taking out a switchblade and flipping it open. The other boy's eyes grew wide. "Where'd you get _that_?" he asked in surprise.

"My brother gave it to me."

"Okay, where'd _he_ get it?"

Nigel hesitated, then swallowed it down, walking towards the door. "Prison," he replied blankly, not missing the shock on Eric's face. "He traded it for a centerfold. And to answer your question, he used the parking meters on 5th street as bulls-eyes for his new crossbow."

"I wasn't going to…" Nigel turned his head over his shoulder and smiled warmly.

"Maybe not, but you were thinking it," he replied cheekily. "Relax, it's alright. I'm okay with it. He did something wrong, he got punished. And anyway, Curiosity didn't kill the cat, it was framed."

Eric frowned in thought. "Then what did kill it?"

"Stupidity." Nigel slid the edge of the switch blade into the gap between the door and the wall, jiggling it up to the hatch.

Suddenly, a small, _visible_ spark of electricity arced down the blade, luckily stopped by the knife's rubber handle. Nigel blinked down at the tool and turned to Eric, who seemed confused as well.

"You saw that?" he asked.

"Yeah. Think they electrified the door?"

"Dunno. Maybe. Not like it's gonna shock me anyway. Gotta love rubber." Eric snorted.

A few moments later, the door lay open in front of Nigel, who stood back up and smiled triumphantly. "No lock is a match for an Ashcroft," he claimed, before motioning for Eric to follow him.

The hallways were just about as blank as their room had been; a soft blue pain over the sides and some sort of crystal tile below their feet that was clear enough to reveal some sort of liquid flowing underneath.

"Are we on a boat?" Nigel whispered, looking at the floor in confusion.

Eric shook his head. "No, I'd be throwing up by now." Nigel looked at him. "It could be in dry dock and I'd still be sea sick."

"Nice."

Nigel kept on forward, scanning the area where the ceiling and walls met for…

Yep, there it was. A security camera.

They seemed to be still out of range of the thing, so he put out an arm and stopped Eric in his tracks. He jerked his head towards the camera and put a finger to his mouth—no telling if there were microphones as well. Eric nodded in response.

"Your Dad's an astronomer, right?" Nigel asked in a nearly unintelligible whisper. Eric nodded once more. "You have a laser on you?"

Eric reached into his pockets and pulled out a tiny penlight. Nigel nodded, his mind working to remember the tips he'd learned from Ross and Uriah. At least some _real_ good could come of them.

"Shine it on the camera's lens. I'll go up and knock it out."

A bright green line of light appeared above his head, expertly held on the camera. With the image blanked, Nigel ran underneath the camera, gaining momentum, and leapt up to it, getting a good grip around it's stalk and pulling it down with him.

The feed disconnected, Eric put his light back in his pocket and walked up to Nigel, who was tearing the stalk off of the actual camera. "What're you doing?" he asked, hissing the question.

Nigel tore off the two thin strips of metal that had kept it stable, once connected to the ceiling. "Lock picks," he replied shortly. "My knife won't be able to fit in a keyhole."

Eric smiled at his friend. "Wow. Never thought hanging with a former criminal had its advantages." Almost immediately, he paled and opened his mouth to apologize, but Nigel held up a hand.

"Never thought learning _from_ criminals could either," he replied with a grin. "Now c'mon. Let's find a way outta here."

The two boys continued walking for what seemed to be hours, taking turns on choosing between left and right when they came to forks—and there were many forks. Eric, who had offered to keep careful track, was almost up to ten turns, and the amount of makeshift lock picks in Nigel's hands from evey security camera they sabotaged was growing. Eventually, though, they ran into a door painted the same pale blue as the walls.

"Think this is an exit?" Eric asked, seeing Nigel walk purposefully towards it.

"At the very least it'll get us out of this labyrinth," he replied quietly, turning the doorknob. Eric came up behind him.

Both boys' eyes widened as they saw what was inside—a wall of computer screens showing images of endless halls, several holding nothing but static, was to one side, and a man wearing an XXXL-size security guard uniform sat in a chair, fast asleep on the other.

"Well that's some security system," Nigel couldn't help but comment. Eric snorted, before spotting a pair of handcuffs at the man's considerably-sized waist. He pointed, and Nigel grinned at his friend.

"We'll make a criminal of you yet, buddy."

"Gee, thanks." Nigel smirked and walked forward, very carefully slipping the cuffs out of the man's holster. After a hair-raising moment where the man snored and turned on his side, he got them out and clicked them around his wrist and the armrest of the office chair.

"Hurh?"

Both boys froze, their hearts working a mile a minute, as the large man slowly woke from his slumber and saw them standing in front of him. It took him a moment to realize that he was handcuffed to the chair, but once he did…

"Someone hel—doof!"

Nigel turned to Eric, who was as white-faced as his shirt and was holding on of the security cameras in an even whiter grip. A small dent was slowly rising on the man's forehead, but his rising and falling chest assured them that he was alive despite the baseball-star-worthy swing the teenager had just given his temple.

"Eric!"

"What, he was freaking me out!" The security camera clattered to the floor as Eric held his hands up, beginning to freak out even further. "Oh God, I killed him didn't I? Jesus, I'm gonna go to jail and they're gonna totally destroy me…"

"Eric!" Nigel hissed again. "He's still breathing, stop yelling! You'll get someone's attention!" The black-haired boy swallowed and nodded. "You had to do it, he was going to get us caught. It was self-defense, okay?" Eric nodded before catching sight of something over Nigel's shoulder.

"Hey, it's Matt!"

Nigel turned around and, sure enough, on one of the screens was their mysterious friend, leaning back against a wall, chained by the ankle to the floor, smirking at whatever was in front of him. Nigel took a moment to revel in the sheer coolness Matt was exuding right now—the last thing he'd be doing if he was chained to the wall was smirking.

The moment ended soon, however, and Nigel strode forward to the panel. "Can you see which room he's in?" he wondered, looking over the mess of buttons in front of him. "Maybe we can bust him out too."

"Hey, there's a mic." Eric pressed a button beside Matt's image, stepping back as a staticy rush came through the speakers, before leveling out to the sound of someone else's voice.

"_Innocent, you say? How innocent is a demon, I wonder?"_

Eric and Nigel shared a glance as Matt flinched at his words. "Matt's… not a demon, right?" Eric asked him, eyebrows raising in doubt.

Nigel shook his head. He didn't know either.

Matt quickly recovered from the flinch and leveled a glare that almost made the boys take another step back at whoever was talking. _"I have no idea what you're talking about,"_ he replied with no emotion. _"Go get some medical help, why don't…"_

Matt suddenly quieted and grew very, very pale. His eyes grew large as he witnessed something the boys couldn't see, before he turned away in a wince. Both Eric and Nigel wondered what exactly could've gotten such a reaction from their level-headed friend.

"_Not so innocent now, are you?"_ the other voice asked, the smile audible.

Matt glared once more. _"I'm still not evil. And if you know I can do _that_, what makes you think I can't get out of these?"_ He motioned to the chain holding him down.

"You don't think…" Eric said in awe. Nigel didn't reply, because he _did_ think. He thought that Matt meant he could go through the same transformation as before and escape without breaking a sweat.

The other man, however, only snorted. _"You think I hadn't thought of that? Those chains are magic-proof, Olsen. Zap them, blast them, pull on them with super-strength, it'll get you nowhere. Those, just like everything in this building, as well as the teleportation device, were made especially for magical beings like _you_."_

Matt flinched once more. "Magical beings?" Nigel repeated. "Matt's a freaking fairy?"

Eric shook his head so hard Nigel was surprised it didn't fall off. "No, no there's no such thing as magic. Watch him deny it, just watch…!"

"_Why would you capture me?"_ Matt asked with narrowed eyes.

"That's not a denial!" Eric squeaked. Nigel awkwardly clapped a hand on the other boy's back. "B-b-b-b-but magic doesn't exist, it's just a fairy tale, it-it…"

"It explains what happened in the alley," Nigel pointed out gently. Eric nodded numbly. "Roll with the punches, buddy. Just roll with them."

The other man was replying. _"I represent the Earthen division of a multi-dimensional organization devoted to the cause of eradicating magic from each of our respective planets."_ Matt's eyes widened, apparently in shock. _"That's right, demon, including you and your silly friends, those… Guardian girls. We will have to exterminate every one of you to save our worlds and homes from the influence of your evil."_

"Girls?" Nigel repeated, only catching that much. "He doesn't mean… the _girls_, does he?"

"What other 'girls' does Matt know?" Eric asked in reply. "But I swear, magic or not, if he touches Hay Lin…."

Nigel's hands clenched into fists. "He'd better not get _near_ Taranee or so help me God I will _kill_ him."

Matt apparently had similar thoughts. Both boys' mouths dropped in shock as a bright green glow appeared in their friend's eyes, much like the glow that the mask had held after his transformation. _"If you hurt _any_ of them, Takeda, I swear, you'll wish I _was_ a self-serving demon. Their worst attacks are nothing compared to what I'd do to you."_

Eric froze. "That… wasn't Matt's voice," he said hesitantly.

Nigel didn't seem to care. "Matt or not, I agree with him," he growled. "C'mon, man, let's get him and bust out of here so we can get our girls."

Eric nodded in agreement and caught a glimpse of a paper map taped to the wall of the room. He tore it off and found which camera held Matt's picture, matching it with the room number.

"He's down the next two halls and up the third," he reported, and ran out the door with Nigel on his heels.

Three minutes later, they arrived at yet another baby blue door, indistinguishable from the security guard's or any other door they'd passed. Nigel turned to Eric.

"You sure this is it?"

Eric smirked. "As sure as I am that Polaris is in Ursa Minor."

Nigel blinked at him for a moment. "Taking that a yes," he replied, kneeling in front of the door and sliding his lockpicks into the doorknob. Tongue between his teeth, he carefully lifted the tumblers inside the mechanism, before a resounding _click_ came from the door and he turned the knob, swinging it open.

Transparent green smoke had filled the room, making everything very difficult to see, but the shape of a collapsed Matt in the center was still obvious. Coughs and gags met their ears as he choked on whatever was filling his lungs.

"Ma—!"

Before Nigel could even finish the single name, a rough hand pushed them both into the room and slammed the door shut behind them.

Eric and Nigel fell to their knees, the gas immediately taking effect, seeping into their lungs and bloodstream and biting into their eyes. Working much more quickly with the boys than it had with Matt, they were unconscious within seconds.

The room flashed with a blue-green light, and the smoke disappeared, but far too late for any of the trio.

* * *

**So, to Lexvan, who guessed that Matt's fellow captives were Nigel and Eric, I award a cyber muffin, much like the real one my sister crocheted into a hat for my other little sister (she wears it to school and her teachers don't care cuz it's so AWESOME), except digital.**

**I've got tomorrow's chapter written up, so I'm going to spend today writing the day after that's chapter. I'm staying one step ahead of the game. ;D Now if only I could do that in chess, I might manage to win a game for once in my life...**

**Anyway, once I'm done writing that, I think I'm going to start replying to reviews, starting with the newest ones and going back. I'm fairly sure I replied to several of the earliest ones, so if I reply to one I replied to in the past, please excuse my mental slipup.**

**Posted while listening to 100 Years by Five for Fighting and 1985 by Bowling for Soup.**

**~Tibki**

**Tell me what you thought by pressing this button...**

**DOWN HERE  
****l  
****v**


	12. Chapter 12: A Fluffy Pink Tutu

**So, another day another chapter. I am sitting here with a small glass bottle of coke that was in my freezer for the last two days, cuz everything tastes better in a glass bottle, eating a slice of watermelon cut by my sister, writing to you guys and listening to _All I Ever Wanted_ by Kelly Clarkson. :) What else is there to life?**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: - That should be enough to give you the message from now on.**

* * *

_Back in Heatherfield:_

"I can't believe we couldn't find anything in the alley," Will said, holding her hands in her pockets. "You'd think something as magical as a massive boyfriend-stealing ray of light would leave some kind of clue to its source."

"How do we know it's even magical?" Hay Lin asked, her eyes suddenly filling with fear. "What if it was aliens that kidnapped them!"

Irma put a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "Hay Lin, the magical people we deal with _are_ aliens. They're from different _worlds_."

"I don't mean like that," she replied. "They're aliens, but they're also… more like interdimensional beings, like in _Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull_. I mean real live _aliens_ with green skin and huge eyes and probes and sucker fingers itching to test the boys… we're gotta save 'em!"

"I don't think they're aliens," Cornelia spoke up, "but Hay Lin has a point. What if it's not magic, but Earth science? It could've been Sylla."

Taranee frowned. "I don't know. Sylla's a creep, but I don't think he'd do something this flashy this soon. He seems to be stuck on recon for now."

"Would you mind explaining what exactly you're talking about?" Mr. Olsen asked, dodging a pedestrian walking by the group. "Who's Sylla?"

Will sighed and stopped, letting the older man catch up. The number of people crowd had peaked and it was getting increasingly hard for Mr. Olsen to get around without causing a panic. "Sylla's our computer professor at school. He's been keeping a close eye on us and Matt—_way_ too close for our liking."

Mr. Olsen shrugged. "He's concerned about you six. Didn't you say that your normal lives are affected a little by your magic lives?"

Cornelia nodded. "Yeah, but most adults just attribute that to normal teenage carelessness. Sylla's way too 'concerned' to just be thinking we're normal kids."

"How would you know?"

Taranee met the man's eyes. "I read his mind and Will talked to his computer." Mr. Olsen's eyebrows rose. "It's _magic_, Mr. Olsen. That means everything's possible."

"Including slugs the size of Volkswagen buses that eat humans and sand pits that can rise off the ground and attack people," Irma added with a grin.

"Anyway, we found out he's been doing background checks on all of us, cross-checking with strange events we… may or may not have had a hand in," Will said, blushing a bit. "The police report on our friend Elyon's disappearance was the biggest and first thing he found."

Almost afraid to ask, he managed to get it out. "What happened to Elyon?"

"She got kidnapped by her jerky older brother, booted him off the throne, and is now the Queen of Meridian," Will explained.

"Oh."

_You're like my favorite song on the radio radio radio I could listen to you all day! You're like a music video video vi-vi-video, I could look at you all day!_

Moving astonishingly quickly, Cornelia swung her bag from across her shoulder and dug into it, pulling out the bright pink Razr she owned. She flipped it open without glancing at the number and put it to her ear.

"Hello?" Cornelia frowned at the voice on the other side. "Napoleon, slow down. I can't hear you around that stupid Manhattan accent of yours… Brooklyn, whatever. It's still New York. What's wrong?"

The girls traded nervous looks as Cornelia's eyebrows met. "Wanna be more specific? Napoleon? You there?"

The earth Guardian closed her phone and met the other girls' gazes seriously. "What's wrong?" Will asked hesitantly. If Napoleon had called, that meant something had happened with the Heart of Earth—and that meant Matt.

"He said it was an emergency," she explained, "and to get over to my place quick. There was a dialtone after I asked what exactly."

"You think it has anything to do with Matt and the boys?" Hay Lin wondered, eyes full of worry.

Will stepped forward, valiantly holding back the unshed tears in her eyes. If Matt was in trouble, she'd have to stay strong until she had him back. There would _not_ be a repeat of the Shagon Saga anytime in this life, not if she could help it.

"Let's go find out."

"Napoleon! Where are you, Napoleon?"

_Gotta run, gotta run, gotta hide, gotta…._

"There you are!" The closet door opened, showering bright light into the tiny closet and revealing a small silhouette of a young girl with short hair; possibly the scariest thing the familiar had seen in his life.

_Crud!_

"Come here Napoleon, it's time to play fairy dress up!" The black cat yowled and tried to run, dashing through his mistress's legs and across the room, hiding under the small bed. "Napoleon!"

The cat backed as far away from the edges of the bed as he could. A dark shadow appeared on the floor in front of him, shaped vaguely like that same little girl… but without a foot attached to it.

"C'mon, Napoleon! I just wanna play!" Napoleon shrank back, hoping to stay out of the girl's way, when the bottom of the bed above him began shaking.

The cat looked up, shock clearly displaying on his face, as the heavy piece of furniture was lifted effortlessly into the air five feet above his head.

"There you are!"

Napoleon swallowed and looked to the other end of the room, already wincing in preparation for what would happen.

Little Lillian Hale, younger sister to Cornelia Hale, Earth Guardian, and unknowing Heart of Earth, floated, upside down, three feet above the floor, her short blonde hair falling towards the ground, still affected by the gravity that had given up on holding the girl herself.

Napoleon wasn't sure how or why, but somehow the magic inside each of the Regents and the residue inside Lillian herself had changed, and drastically at that. No longer was Lillian a completely non-magical little girl living through her childhood, but in some way, some amount of her power had been returned to her and, in the hands of such a young girl, they were gong haywire.

Different pieces of furniture and various toys bounced around the ceiling above the girl, joined by play make-up and the small dresses that she'd taken from her stuffed animals and was determined to place on her living, breathing feline.

Never in his life had Napoleon been so unsure of the situation, so nervous of what was going to come next, and so afraid of the very, very near future. Even with all the knowledge he held as a familiar, he had _absolutely no clue_ what had happened just a few moments ago, and just how Lillian had received enough magical prowess to make her entire room seem like Tinker Bell had broken in and gone mad on everything in sight.

It was amazing how throwing him off on one thing could change his entire view on everything else. Though he often seemed like a leader to the Regents, at least in his mind, he didn't want to make any decisions after _this_ point without the consent of the other two.

Not to mention Cornelia would skin him alive and make a pair of winter boots out of him if he revealed his position as her familiar without her there.

Not that he was afraid of her.

"There you are!" Lillian gushed, a massive grin on her face as she righted herself in midair. "I hope you're ready Napoleon, cuz Mommy got me a brand new dress yesterday and I _have_ to see how it looks!"

Her little sister, on the other hand…

Napoleon swallowed once more as invisible hands forcibly lifted him into the air and shoved a bright pinky, extremely sparkly ballerina dress (complete with tutu and tiny shoes).

_God I hope Cornelia will be here soon._

* * *

**Hope you liked my weak attempt at humor! ':) Well, The Demon's Reflection warned me that I may have been making continuity errors, so if you've noticed any, please tell me in a review! I'll do my best to fix it up.**

**Anyway. Tell me what you think by pressing the button**

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	13. Chapter 13: PLEASE Don't Tell Mom?

**By now, you guys know what's happened to all three groups of people inside this story... well, except the cliffie I left for Lillian and Napoleon, and the one for the boys.**

**One of those cliffhangers will be resolved today! In this chapter! Right below this author's note! So I'm not going to block you from it.**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm disinclined to acquiesce your query as to my ownership of this particular television series. (English: If you're askin', I ain't ownin'.)**

* * *

_A Little While Later_

"Lillian, sweetie? Are you in there?"

Lillian froze, hands tightening slightly on the small cat she was holding to her chest. Napoleon squeaked in protest, squirming in the pretty pink dress she had put him in a half hour ago. Since then, he'd managed to get out of his shoes three times and nearly torn the tutu in half a lot more.

Her mother knocked on the door to her room once more. "Lil? Are you okay in there?"

The young blonde girl looked around her room, how everything inside of it was currently a foot above the ground, and swallowed.

"I'm fine, Mom!" she called in reply. "Just playing with Napoleon!"

Unfortunately, that was when the winter coat her cat was shedding decided to come into effect. Lillian's face scrunched as hair entered her nose, and…

"_A-choo!"_

"Lillian?" The youngest Hale winced. Her mother was a germophobe and would go crazy if any one of her daughters so much as sniffled. Though it was a great way to easily get out of school, it also guaranteed a complete lack of privacy while the woman cared for and doted on the sick child. "Are you sick? Do you want me to take your temperature?"

"I'm _fine_, Mom!" Lillian insisted, trying to hide her worry. What would she say if she saw the mess that flying was making in her room? She'd probably ground her, or worse, faint! Lillian didn't know what to do with a fainted person.

"I'm be right back, honey, I'm just going to get the thermometer."

Lillian swallowed nervously. _Aw crap! I've gotta get everything back to normal _fast…!

Almost immediately, objects began flying to their proper places, furniture settling back onto the areas of the floor they'd originally occupied as drawers and shelves filled with toys and makeup and dresses. Napoleon yowled as Lillian jumped into the air once more, settling down in her bed and pulling the covers over herself.

Just as the last tube of lipstick stopped moving, the door opened and Mrs. Hale stepped in, holding the old glass-and-mercury thermometer they'd been using since Cornelia was younger than she was.

Before placing the thing in her mouth, Mrs. Hale saw what exactly had happened to Napoleon and leveled a stare at Lillian. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't torture Napoleon anymore, sweetheart."

Lillian pouted. "But it's not torture! It's a dress up-tea party!"

Mrs. Hale raised an eyebrow. "Do you think he _wants_ to be in that dress?"

"Of course! He's _pretty_, Mom! … And besides, I don't have any boy dress ups."

The mother could see the ulterior motive behind that as clearly as she could see Napoleon's black fur through the pink fabric. But it wasn't as if they couldn't afford it, and poor Napoleon had more than once run into her room purring, all but asking to tear the monstrosities she put him in _off_.

Mrs. Hale sighed. "Okay, I'll get you a boy dress for Napoleon. But you have to earn it—that means all chores and no complaints for a week, got it?"

Lillian nodded frantically, just as happy as her mother to get Napoleon out of the girl dresses. He was a _boy_ after all, and a boy with _claws_ at that. He'd never use them against her, but she was worried he'd eventually get to the breaking point before she was able to ask her mother for a suit.

The girl opened her mouth and waited as her mother inserted the thermometer and checked the rising mercury. After a slight hum, she drew it out and wiped it on the bedspread.

"You have a _slight_ fever," she reported, laying a hand on Lillian's forehead. "Do you want me to stay home from work today, honey? I can finish those editorials tomorrow…"

"No!" With her mother gone, it would be a whole heck of a lot easier to practice whatever powers she'd gotten overnight. Maybe she could lift the entire TV! "You go ahead, Mom, I'll be okay."

Mrs. Hale frowned. "Well, I still need to call a babysitter, and I know Matt is at the festival with Will and Cornelia…"

The sound of the front door bursting open reached even Lillian's room in the back of the house. "Mom, I'm home!" Cornelia's voice followed the slam.

Lillian winced. Cornelia was even worse than her mother. She wouldn't be able to do _anything._

If either Hale noticed how Napoleon let out a massive sigh of relief, they didn't say anything.

Mrs. Hale walked out of the room and Lillian scrambled out of bed, stopping at her door to look out towards the front door. Standing in the foyer was her older sister and all four of her friends, as well as a strange older man in a shirt and jeans. Lillian narrowed her eyes at the grown-up. Who was he? He wasn't any of the girls' fathers judging by looks and no other adult ever hung around with them.

"Oh, hello girls. Cornelia? What are you doing home so early?" Mrs. Hale wondered.

Cornelia bit her lip. "Uh… we decided we wanted to bring Lillian along for the festival! You know, since Chris is with his dad at the precinct, we didn't think it'd be very fun for her to stay home alone with nothing to do all day."

Lillian raised her eyebrows. _Cornelia_ had thought of _her_? When she was supposed to be hanging out with her _boyfriend_? Who was this girl and what had she done with her big sister?

Mrs. Hale, however, seemed to buy it. "If you really want to watch over Lillian, you can, but I'm afraid she can't leave the apartment today. She's feeling a little under the weather. I was actually just about to call the service to ask for a sitter."

"Uh, that's alright Missus Hale," Will stepped in with a large grin. "We'll babysit Lil. We can handle it, all five of us."

Mrs. Hale thought over it. "Alright. I'll be at work if you need me, Cornelia knows the numbers, but they're also on the fridge in case of emergency. Take her temperature every hour and be sure she eats." She got her bag from the table next to the door.

"Wait, Mom!" All eyes turned to Lillian. "Aren't you gonna ask who that guy is?" she asked, pointing to the man.

The grown-up looked down at himself before looking back at her. Mrs. Hale frowned, moving to put her bag back down and return to double-check her daughter's fever, when a particularly pale Cornelia stopped her. Come to think of it, all of the girls were pale.

"Ah ha, very funny Lil, playing your little games. That must be your new imaginary friend, right? Don't worry Mom, we've got this handled, you go ahead and make _lots_ of money, okay?" Before she could reply, the oldest Hale had shoved her mother bodily out the door and slammed it closed behind her.

Lillian looked over the still-white group before huffing and running back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Why did her sister always have to think she was some little kid playing games? She _saw_ that guy and she was pretty sure the other girls did too. Why couldn't they just _believe_ her for once? Why couldn't they take her seriously?

"Urgh, sometimes I wish that I was…"

"MRRRRROWWWW!"

Napoleon suddenly jumped on Lillian, cutting off her sentence. "Hey, Napoleon!" she screeched, sitting up and sending the cat flying onto the bed. "Are you insane, what was that for?"

Napoleon just looked up at her with wide green eyes and nuzzled her hand apologetically. The temporary anger Lillian was feeling immediately disappeared as she stroked the small feline.

"Okay, fine, I forgive you."

_Knock knock_. "Lillian?" Cornelia asked through the door. "Lil, can we come in? We have to talk to you for a second."

"Why? So you can pretend I'm seeing people again?" Lillian glared at the door and scooped up Napoleon, holding him close to her chest.

"Wait." She guessed the unfamiliar voice belonged to the new man. "I thought only people connected to Hearts could see me."

"_Shut it!"_ what seemed like all five girls screeched. "She might hear you!" Cornelia continued.

"If she's not connected to the Heart she won't be able to hear me any—ow!"

"Lillian, sweetie, we're coming in." Before she could reply, the doorknob turned and Cornelia stepped into the room.

The older blonde looked at the girl lying in bed and glanced further down the mattress, finally finding the cat and the pink tutu he was dressed in. A strange look overtook the girl—extreme amusement and anger, both at the same time. The result was a bright red Cornelia that went _wonderfully_ with her hair, her eyes gleaming in fury but her mouth twitching upwards in an attempt to keep it straight.

Lillian smiled innocently at her sister's face. "Isn't he _beautiful_, Cornelia?"

In less than a second, the girl was back outside her room after slamming the door shut and was laughing so loud and hard it made it all the way through the walls. Lillian grinned as well, her sister officially out of her hair for the moment.

"C'mon, Napoleon, let's see if I can lift everything at once."

Will, Irma, Taranee, Hay Lin, and Mr. Olsen looked worriedly at Cornelia as she went into the living room and collapsed into the sofa, laughing and clutching her middle. The girls shared a look in concern before walking over to her, Matt's father close behind.

"Uh, Corny?" Irma spoke up. "I know that Lillian's a _lot_ funnier than you are, but what are you laughing about?"

The blonde snickered before straightening. "She… she put Napoleon… in a ballerina dress!"

The girls stared at her for a moment before allowing small snickers to escape. "_That_ was his big emergency?" Will asked. Truth be told, she didn't find it that funny, but she _was_ relieved that it wasn't a Heart of Earth emergency. Who knows what that could've meant for Matt?

"Well, you've gotta put yourself in his shoes," Irma explained, grinning. "He hasn't gotten been dealt a blow to his masculine pride like this since he was neutered!"

"Oooooh, nasty, Irma!" Hay Lin giggled, lightly slapping her friend.

Mr. Olsen, who'd been informed of the general ideas on the run to the Hales, frowned at the group. "But then, how can she see me?" he asked. "If she doesn't have any magic anymore, how is it that she can see and hear me?"

That silenced them. "Maybe residual magic left behind from after it got taken by the Regents?" Will suggested.

Taranee shook her head. "I don't think so. I don't think that'd be enough. I mean think about it—the Regents got enough power to change their entire physical structures and be able to put a glamour over all of downtown Heatherfield. How much could be left?"

"Uh, do we have to remind you about the whole 'castle and dragon' thing?" Irma asked. "Seemed to me like her power was pretty deep."

"Yeah, but no Heart is infinite," Hay Lin replied. "Even the Heart of Kandrakar—we were getting beat when Nerissa had _two_ Hearts, so it has to have a limit on its power too."

"Maybe whatever spell's on Mr. Olsen is wearing off?" Cornelia asked hopefully.

The others turned to the man, who blinked at the sudden attention and shrugged. "Hey, how'm I supposed to tell? I don't feel any different than from when I left the house for Taiwan 5 years ago."

"There has to be _some_thing!" Will said. "If this isn't a Regents emergency, then why can Lillian see Mr. Olsen?"

"Napoleon, come back here!"

Six faces turned as a black-and-pink streak ran into the room, jumping onto the couch and hiding behind Will's hair. The girl turned at her waist and saw Napeoleon's wide frightened eyes meet hers.

Will couldn't help but smirk. "Looking good, Napoleon. Want us to hide you?"

"Not the time, doll, we've got bigger rocks hanging over our heads!" he hissed. "Something's up with…"

"There he is!" Lillian ran into the living room, reaching for the cat. Before he could run, she had him in her grasp. "Wow, Napoleon, I'm surprised you actually figured out how to open a door." She turned back around to return to her room when she caught sight of Mr. Olsen. "Oh. Hi," she said. "You're the guy my sister said doesn't exist."

"Your sister… had to lie for a second there," Mr. Olsen admitted hesitantly, earning a glare from Cornelia. "But it was for a good reason!"

"So you _do_ exist?" Mr. Olsen nodded and Lillian sent a glare at her sister. "Thought so. Who are you?"

"Um… Matt's dad. Mr. Olsen." Lillian blinked in surprise before smiling.

"Really? Cool! Matt's never talked about his dad before! I'm Lillian. Matt babysits me a lot."

Mr. Olsen smiled. "I know. The girls've been telling me about you."

"What's a Heart? Not the normal kind, but the kind you were talking about?" Mr. Olsen swallowed. _$hit. She heard._

The five girls on the couch froze. "Uh…" Cornelia opened her mouth, closed it, opened it once more, and said, "Will…?"

"Uh… a Heart is kinda like the magical source for a planet," Will explained. The other four girls turned to her with enormous eyes. "It's not real, I've been reading a fantasy book and they're inside it."

Lillian frowned. "Then why was he talking about it?"

Mr. Olsen licked his lips. "I read the same book on a business trip once," he lied, "we were talking about… how ridiculous it is, because there's no such thing as magic!"

Napoleon meowed in warning, but just two seconds too late. Lillian's eyes narrowed and his fists closed. "There is _too_ such thing as magic, I know it!"

Having had this conversation a hundred times with Matt, Mr. Olsen replied more on instinct than actual thought—because he _knew_ that magic was real, even if his subconscious had put him on the wrong track. "Almost everything in the universe is explainable by _science_, kid, there's no such thing as magic."

"Yes there is!" Lillian closed her eyes and shook her head. If there was no such thing as magic, then everything she'd been doing for the past hour had only been a dream or some sort of hallucination. She didn't want to be crazy and she _definitely_ didn't want to have to find out that flying was only a dream. Lillian _liked_ flying, liked how she could make anything else fly as well, liked…

"Holy $hit!" Irma screamed, running backwards up the couch as the little Hale girl suddenly took off, flying into the air.

"Lillian!" Cornelia screamed, before turning. "Irma!"

"Oh my gosh, she's flying!" Hay Lin said, eyes wide.

"This can't be good," Taranee muttered. Will only swallowed.

Lillian opened her eyes to the scene of the chaos. Mr. Olsen was staring slack-jawed at her, his head tilted upwards. Wait, upwards…?

She looked down and saw almost ten feet of empty space where floor should be. "Oh man!" she swallowed, steadying herself with her arms. "Oh God, this is high, this is really really high!"

Cornelia immediately stood, kicking off her shoes and climbing onto the very top of the back of the couch, stretching on her toes with impeccable balance that had come from 5 yeas of ballet lessons, before gently grabbing her little sister's extended hand.

Very slowly, she stepped back down onto the floor, bringing Lillian down with her until the girl was only a safe six inches off the ground. The girl looked up at her older sister and smiled nervously.

"Hehe… _please_ don't tell Mom?"

* * *

**I lost count of the times I've heard _that_ around my house.**

**Anyway. Not much to say here. The half-cliffie here will be resolved next chapter as well as part of the boys'. :D Just wait til tomorrow!**

**Review and tell me what you think!**

**~Tibki**


	14. Chapter 14: Three Gym Bags

**Whoo. Was worried for a second there I wouldn't get to update. I spent most of the day over at a friend's house and I still had stuff to do at home before I could post this. But, it's okay since I got it all done, AND I acquired something new that my best friend (who invited me over) calls "a life". XP**

**Anyway. Special surprise for you guys today! I went crazy two nights ago while writing this chapter and penned the second half in an entirely different writing style. I hope you like it-cuz the next two chapters _will_ be in the same writing style and I'll only stop if people tell me to switch back.**

**We're with Lillian and the girls and Mr. Olsen again! So read on and enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED.**

* * *

_Some While Later:_

"So what you're saying is," Lillian said slowly, her mind wrapping around all she'd been told in the last hour, "I'm this thing called the Heart of Earth and I have a lot of magic, but I was too young to handle it, so by telling me that story, I gave my powers to three Regents—Huggles, Matt, and Napoleon, and they've been using it to protect me from evil stuff for the past few months?"

"You forgot that part about the familiar," Mr. Olsen reminded her.

"Oh yeah. And Napoleon is a magical spirit that's supposed to help me with whatever?" Lillian looked around the group of teenagers. "Are you guys serious? Cuz if this is some kinda joke…"

"Ain't a joke, doll." The girl's, not to mention Mr. Olsen's, eyes nearly popped from their head as Napoleon leapt onto the couch in front of them. "I'm your familiar—and since I don't have to keep silent anymore, _please_ get me _out_ of this dress!"

Lillian picked the cat up and started to peel the pink monstrosity off of him. "I don't get it, though," she said, still confused. "How do you guys know about magic? And how'd you know I was doing magic when you were having fun at the Festival?"

"Hey," Irma said, holding up a finger. "We haven't had _any_ fun and we haven't been to the festival at _all_. When Napoleon called we came right over."

Lillian looked down at the cat. "How did you use a phone?"

He muttered but didn't reply.

Cornelia bit her lip and looked over at her friends. _We can't tell her everything about the Guardians—it's too much and she's bound to tell someone something sometime._

Taranee nodded. "We know about magic because we each have a little too," she explained to Lillian. Snapping her fingers, she set her thumb ablaze, the flames licking her skin but not burning. "See? I can control fire. Irma can affect water, Hay Lin air, Will electricity, and Cornelia earth."

Lillian turned up to her older sister. Cornelia crossed her arms and stared down at her. "What?"

"How come you never told me?"

The older girl rolled her eyes. "Would you have believed me? Or maybe you would've told Mom and Dad or any of your silly little friends. Magic's kept secret for good reason, Lillian."

"Like what?"

"Um." Cornelia realized she didn't have a good answer to that. "Because… uh… because it is, okay?"

"Fine. But I'll find out sooner or later." She looked around and frowned. "Wait a minute. Huggles is here and so's Napoleon, but where's Matt? Is he sick or something?"

All eyes turned to Will, who immediately looked at her hands. She'd managed to stay silent during the entire conversation, focusing on keeping herself from becoming hysterical with worry over Matt's disappearance. It hadn't worked all so well; it took all her willpower to keep her face blank while her mind reeled ahead of her, thoughts of him lying in an alley or on some other planet somewhere, hurt and unable to get help, or even worse, filling her head.

"Or something," she finally replied quietly, when she realized none of the other girls would answer. "Mr. Olsen saw him, Nigel, and Eric get… taken somewhere by someone. We were looking for him when Napoleon called."

Napoleon's eyes widened. "You mean Mattie got _kidnapped_?" he repeated. "By who, magical or not?"

"We're not sure," Mr. Olsen replied grimly. "Apparently, it could've been either a magic light ray or some sort of ultra-modern Earth laser. He… transformed to try and escape it, but when it hit him, he went back to normal."

Lillian took off the two little booties on her familiar's feet, watching as he shook his fur back into its normal shape. Will couldn't help but think how similar it was to how Matt would get rid of his hat hair after taking off his favorite fishing hat.

"Are you sure?" Napoleon asked Mr. Olsen. "He went from Regent to normal _after_ the light hit him?"

"Yes. One second, my son's got wings, and the next, he doesn't—I might've missed a couple things in his life, but that much was noticeable."

Napoleon took a breath and let it out. "What're you thinking?" Will asked, moving forward slightly.

"Good news and bad news, kiddies. Good news: we know why Lillian's showing her powers and why she can see the Invisible Man over there."

Hay Lin blinked. "Why?" she wondered.

"That's the bad news. It had to come from somewhere, and since neither the rat or I are missing any, that means she got it from Mattieboy."

The room suddenly got silent. Will's face lost all the blood inside its veins as she realized the context of what the cat meant.

"You mean…"

"Someone ripped the magic out of the kid." Napoleon shook his head. "It depends on how fast it happened and a couple other things, but… only a handful of people've had the bad luck to get their magic torn out of them."

"What… happened to them?"

Napoleon's green eyes met Will's brown, full of a horrible truth.

"Nothing good."

_Outside Heatherfield_

As known by most of its residents, the name of their city, Heatherfield, was in fact an eponym, drawn from the miles upon miles of rolling fields of fertile heather that surrounded the city on the two sides not covered by shore or mountain slope when it was first settled. Most of these fields had been plowed down to produce land meant for housing developments or stretches of the city itself, but several still remained standing, a tangible reminder of the natural beauty the area had once held.

Though still a beautiful and clean city, few places were just as calm or peaceful as the lush fields at the very edges of it. Here the animals not frightened off by the noise of the people living inside the metropolis could live undisturbed, except by the occasional visitor meaning to catch a quick snapshot or simply a glimpse of the different species.

A small brook bubbled down through its center, tumbling stones into smooth pebbles so slowly no living being would see the change in their lifetime. The grass and heather reached for the sun, growing ever so slowly and singing their silent songs to the source of their light. Birds dove and flitted through the air, playing with each other, as mice scurried around the soft ground, leaping into well-hidden burrows and nibbling on seeds. Grasshoppers and crickets played their melodies as cicadas began to ascend from their winter rests and tune their own natural instruments.

Spring had arrived, and with its advent brought those curious, well-meaning people who came into the fields to capture a shot of the different species or even just a glimpse of the variety of flora and fauna managing to survive and thrive so close to a centre for man.

Unfortunately, there are those people who would much rather prefer to completely forget about those areas outside Heatherfield, who would prefer to stay inside and enjoy the air conditioning. But, if those few ever did brave the elements and step outside into the beautiful spring air, some form of karma seemingly urged by Mother Nature herself would come swooping down on their heads in the form of mosquitoes, ticks, and other blood-sucking, stinging and biting insects arisen from their winter sleeps.

Among that number was P. E. Blart.

A heavier man, he was used to staying inside on days like these, staring at the surveillance camera screens and earning his minimum wage pay at his boss's secret headquarters. Sweat dribbled and bubbled down his forehead, back, and sides as he plowed through the waist-high plant life not unlike a tractor, crushing stalks and stems underneath his shined black shoes and leaving a trail of floral death and despair behind him.

Also behind Blart was a plain black gym bag, one obviously not used by the man himself, but also obviously currently in use, as he was breathing hard just from carrying it the entire 25 yards between the black, nondescript van and a site he'd decided to dump it in after he almost collapsed at it when he'd brought the _first_ of the bags.

There were three bags in total, and each seemed to be heavier than the last. Though he wasn't to admit it under torture (despite the fact that he probably would), inside every one of the three bags were the three bodies that had once occupied the gas chamber inside the headquarters he'd just left.

There had only meant to be one body, the demon's, but after discovering that the two friends of the demon had escaped their prison before they could be tested, Blart had pushed them personally into the gas room as well.

Or at least, that was what he'd told his superior. The truth was Blart had been discovered, knocked unconscious, and handcuffed to his rolling chair by the duo. When he woke, he'd found the image of them trying to find their friend's room and followed them by rolling on the chair down the halls. After reaching and seeing them opening the door to the room, he'd lost control of the chair and barreled into them, knocking them into the gas.

He'd only barely managed to squeeze his wrist from the cuffs before Takeda had come himself to see who had entered the gassing chamber.

Takeda had seemed pleased, and had promised Blart a substantial pay raise if he could discreetly get rid of the bodies. Possibly even enough for him to get himself out of the trashy apartment he resided in, assuming he could save for long enough.

Blart had originally meant to throw the three boys down the furnace shute in his apartment building, but after discovering that they were still breathing, some small sympathy inside of him had refused to allow him.

So instead, he was leaving them out in the middle of the wild, a whole two miles from the city edge, with no food, water, or transportation.

Blart dropped the last bag—he thought it contained the redheaded boy, he wasn't sure—by the stream and unzipped it, grunting as he lifted the teenager out of the bag and onto the muddy ground next to his buddies.

He carefully eyed the thick trees that constituted the woods surrounding this particular field. All kinds of creatures and monsters lived in the woods… or so he'd heard. If the three boys were comatose or braindead or something else that allowed them to breathe but not wake, then they'd be taken by starving dogs or coyotes or wolves. Or possibly a bear.

Blart looked down at the row of teenagers at his feet. "Well, if ye're alive, th' growls'll wake ye 'fore their teeth do. An' if ye ain't gonna wake… then ye _defini'ly_ ain't gonna wake," he drawled through the heavy Southern accent his father had passed down to him—one of the _only_ things the man had passed on to him. "Either way, y'all ain't my problem no more."

After only a moment's hesitation, he bowed his head at the three prone bodies lying in the dirt. "God have mercy on ye, either way," he muttered.

With that, the security officer turned and began the arduous trek back to his van and drove back into the city to accept his raise.

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**Oh noes! What'll happen to the boys? Well, that's for me to know and you to find out. :)**

**I know one person knows what the P.E. in P.E. Blart stands for. Does anyone else wanna guess? And Lexvan-NO TELLING. Let them sweat a bit. :D**

**Hope you guys liked the new style.**

**Review please? PLEASE I BEG OF YOU I LIVE OFF OF THEM AND I'M FUDGING STARVING!**


	15. Chapter 15: April Showers

**Dramatic scene below. Cannot interfere much. Still in the new writing style.**

**DISCLAIMED.**

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_Two Days Later_

The arrival of spring had come that Saturday, beginning the weekend with a beautifully sunny, warm day with nary a cloud in sight. A gentle breeze had blown through the city, ruffling new buds on trees and bushes as if a parent was mussing their child's hair.

It had been the perfect day for the Earth Day Festival and nearly all of Heatherfield's population had enjoyed the pleasantly humid, sun-tanning-skin-warming day of the year by spending it among the booths, shopping among the boutiques and stores and choosing delicacies at several restaurants operated by smiling owners and employees who were taking their own singular chance to spend their working day outside.

Unfortunately, that beauty couldn't last, and, as a colorfully blooming flower withered eventually under the continuous battery of the elements, the clear spring wonder faded into the dull grey of the proverbial April shower.

This shower, however, was more along the lines of a fire hose than a showerhead. It didn't rain in Heatherfield; it _poured_, fat, lazy droplets of sweet rainwater descending from the texture-less dark heavens down onto the surprised and disappointed heads of the residents of the fair city.

Bright blue lightning arched down from those same heavens in long spindly trees, connecting with the rods placed at the tips of the buildings, as if they were hands of God was angered and was reaching down to punish the humans for attempting to reach his holy haven through their structures.

Thunder clapped and winds howled, adding to the symphony of the storms surrounding the entire area. A bone-chilling cold gripped every corner of the city as Father Winter rose up for one last strike against the Spring Daughter who was so utterly defeating him. Woolen hats and mittens that had been boxed up in the hope of having to wear multiple layers until at least October were brought back from the ether with disappointed faces on those wearing them.

Rubber rain boots were put back into use, their wild patterns trying to add some color to the suddenly drab world. Umbrellas were coaxed form their holders beside doors and popped open just outside the dry and warm haven of the indoors, creating a temporary dry space under their holders.

It was, all in all, a depressing time, one where anyone sane would be spending it indoors, either in a home or a workplace or even in… a school.

To add to the misery, it was a Monday, the one day of the week so often spit upon by he human race. It was the signal to the end of a restful weekend normally, and today, one that had held the beauty and wonder of the first true day of spring.

Will shrugged her jacket's hood higher onto her head, hoping to block out more of the rain that was still managing to soaking straight into her bones. With only two hands granted to her, she was unable to hold her umbrella up while biking through the massive puddles forming on the sidewalks of Heatherfield, on her way to her high school.

Sympathetic car drivers that passed by the redhead slowed before they reached her, trying to make as little a splash as possible so she wouldn't be covered by a miniature tsunami of gutter water and all the odiferous contents it held. However, no matter how much they braked, the bottoms of her jeans were still a much darker blue than the upper portions, damp with dirty water and even colder than the air surrounding her.

After a 20-minute bike ride that had to be karmic payback for some deadly sin she must have committed, the gates of Sheffield Institute loomed above her. The normally cheery and elegant red brick that had to be older than her grandmother's mother were just as grey and wet as the sidewalk they stood on. The lawns in front of the main building that were bright green with baby grass on that Saturday were now filled with puddles the size of seas, brown with the mud of the soil and drowning out the young plants underneath.

Will could barely imagine a time when the school looked worse. She locked her bike onto the bars near the front and ran underneath the shelter of the halls, where every one of her classmates who weren't in the mood for the tardies and detentions Knickerbocker had promised were hiding from the ghastly weather outside.

Making a quick scan of the crowd stirred gently in the halls, she found a telltale blonde head rising high above all the others—Cornelia, easily recognizable even from the other side of the corridor. After a minute of gentle pushing and shoving, a minute filled with apologies and, in one instance, swearwords, she arrived at the group she called her own.

"Hey guys," she said quietly, brushing a wet strand of hair out of her eyes. Four heads turned to her and smiled at once at the sight of their 'fearless leader'. Well, three heads smiled. The fourth, the same blonde one she'd used as a lighthouse to find the group, just held a slightly panicked face. "Cornelia? What's wrong?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Irma spoke up from her seat on the windowsill—highly illegal in Knickerbocker's eyes, but it wasn't as if she cared. "We're all here, now spill! Lillian tear a hole in space and time?"

The panic left for a moment as Cornelia glared at the brunette. "Don't even joke, Irma," she said bitingly. "The little brat was pestering me with questions about magic all night. That little traitor Napoleon dropped her in lap at eight and went to bed."

"Cornelia," Hay Lin said, cutting off the rant that was no doubt in the making. "What had you spazzing when you came in? Is it Guardian stuff?"

The glare faded and was replaced by a clam but very worried look that didn't reassure anyone present. "Kind of," she replied slowly. "You know that freaky necklace Matt gave his dad just before he disappeared?"

Will felt a pang in her chest at the mention of her missing boyfriend. Some part of her hand hoped that she would see him at school that day, that everything that'd happened that otherwise beautiful Saturday had only been a nightmare, a relapse of the terror's she'd had nightly just after the Shagon Saga had ended.

But the truth was hitting her once more—Matt _had_ been kidnapped and everything _was_ real. Mr. Olsen had indeed finally returned to Earth only to lose his son a few hours later. Nigel and Eric had gone missing with Matt. That necklace was all that was left of them, and Napoleon had said… that there was a good chance Matt…

Will shoved that line of thinking aside, fully aware that the others were staring at her. She was the leader in this group, and she had to stay strong. She'd done it countless times before. She could do it now.

"The one we thought was connected to the Heart of Earth," she replied, getting a nod from Cornelia. "What about it?"

The girl took a breath. "I figured that, since it's a Heart of Earth thing, I should give it to Lillian."

Taranee nodded. "Makes sense. As the Heart of Earth she'd probably at least instinctually know how to use it… whatever it was."

Cornelia smiled at the support given by the most logical of the Guardians—she'd been afraid that they would try and debunk her decision, Will realized—but that smile quickly faded. "Well, I gave it to her Saturday night, and that morning, she woke up and it's gone!"

Surprise ran through all four girls. "Gone?" Hay Lin repeated. "Just… poof?"

"Poof!"

"Did it fall behind her dresser or something?" Irma suggested. "That girl's room is a mess, maybe it's in a pile of laundry."

Cornelia shook her head. "We turned her room upside down looking for it. Napoleon even trying honing in on it with his powers, but he couldn't feel it inside the building."

"Why are we only hearing about this now?" Will asked. "You said it went missing Saturday night—why wait until Monday to tell us?

Cornelia scowled. "My _grandmother_ showed up for one of her surprise visits that morning—me, Lillian, and Napoleon were forced to spend the entire day with her since Mom and Dad had to leave for work. We didn't have a spare minute to call you until about 11:30 at night and by then we were ready to fall in bed and die from nagging."

Taranee spoke up again. "So you guys have no idea where it could be?"

"None! And it gets worse." Irma groaned as Will shook her head. This was shaping up to be a wonderful week, and school hadn't even started yet. "Napoleon had a theory about what exactly it was, but he didn't want to tell us until he was sure. Now, he says that it could be the old Heart of Earth."

"The old Heart?" Hay Lin repeated, suddenly white. "Like the one Nerissa trapped Elyon in?"

Cornelia nodded. "It's not supposed to have much power compared to Lillian, but it's still a magical object and can be used by anyone for anything."

"There's no chance that someone broke into your apartment looking for gaudy jewelry?" Irma asked hopefully. "Got anything missing in your box, Corny?"

The glower she shot at her could've started a wildfire in the storm outside.

"Okay, jeez. Just a thought."

Will's mind drew away from the argument in front of her. First Matt had been kidnapped, and now the former Heart of Earth was taken from right under their noses? Even if she still believed in coincidences after Phobos and Nerissa, this would've been too great to ignore.

They had to be connected somehow. Was it possible that some amount of Matt's magic hadn't gone to Lillian and instead had returned to the old Heart and set off any magic sniffers in the area? They knew they were there—Sylla alone was enough to tip them off, but the sheer amount of non-descript white vans running around Heatherfield had conspiracy theorists like Irma on edge. And in the magic business, conspiracies usually had a good amount backing.

But if the magic sniffers had gone after the old Heart, how come they hadn't noticed _Lillian_, the _current_ Heart of Earth and at _least_ three times as powerful as whatever _might_ have gone into the Heart, in the very same room?

It didn't make sense, and the whole situation was giving her one doozy of a headache. Frustration, worry, anxiety, nervousness, fear, and anger built up and up inside of Will until it came to a head and she instinctually put a hand to her throbbing temple.

Will's eyes closed as images started blurring in front of her. Blood was rushing through her ears and the tips of her fingers and toes began to prickle painfully. Vague and muffled voices managed to break through the mist and reach her brain.

"Will…?"

Will forced herself to open her eyes. It seemed as if someone had taken the ancient, thin, frog-shaped wool hat she carried around in cold weather and pulled it over her head and eyes, putting everything into a dizzy focus that gave her an even harsher ache between her temples.

"…okay…?" Was it Irma who was speaking? Or Taranee? It was really hard to tell.

"Yeah." Will controlled her tongue and jaw muscles to form a word—something she'd been doing for the past 12 years, but suddenly took a lot of effort to manage. "'M fi…"

She didn't even notice when blackness crept into her vision and she collapsed onto the floor.

On the other side of the hall, three teenaged boys stopped and turned around to look at the crowd gathering around a familiar group of girls. It seemed that one of them had just fainted and the other four were trying to get the conglomerating throng back so she could breathe while summoning a teacher.

The scrawniest of the three snorted at the sight of the fallen redhead. "'Bout time that uppity Vandom got what was comin' to her," he muttered.

"I dunno, Uriah," the large boy at his side replied. "She's kinda nice…"

Uriah scowled at his cronie. "And her stupid Mom's boyfriend failed my history test, so shut up!" he bit back, whacking the teen on the back of his head, as if that could realign some broken gear in the unfortunately dim boy's skull.

Further down that same hall, a boy just a year older than Will turned around, looking past the commotion and down at the collapsed redhead. Large blue eyes, framed by long black hair that was partially hidden underneath his favorite fisherman's cap, turned sympathetic and worried at the sight of her.

The boy's best friend, a fiery-haired teen his exact height, looked over his shoulder at what he was staring at. "Dude, what's up?"

"One of the girls we just passed—I think she fainted."

"Is she okay?" the third boy, standing behind them, asked, sounding concerned.

"Hope so. She… kinda looked familiar."

The redheaded boy turned to the black-haired one behind them, raising an eyebrow. He only shrugged in reply. "Have… you ever met her before?"

Matthew Olsen adjusted the leather string around his neck and turned, walking towards his first class, his friends right behind him.

"Nope. Never seen her in my life. Weird, huh?"

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**Review please.**

**~Tibki**


	16. Chapter 16: Changes

**OMGEEZUS 50 REVIEWS. HOW DID THOSE GET HERE? :O Seriously, thanks guys! Your reviews keep me going!**

**Anyway, hate to break it to you, but filler chapter today. I had to connect last chapter with the one after this one, so this popped up in between. I'm sorry, but if you go through this without complaint, you get what I hope is a great chapter tomorrow! :D**

**DISCLAIMED.**

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_Later That Day:_

Matt tapped the sharp end of his pencil against his paper, leaving small black marks on the otherwise pristine lined sheet. He was trying to pay attention—he really was—but it was fairly difficult for him for some reason. His mind seemed to be flying all around the place today.

The last thing he could focus on currently were the notes his Trigonometry teacher was putting on the board in front of the class. So many things clamored for his attention—things he hadn't noticed or hadn't known existed or just plain _hadn't_ existed before now.

For instance: one of the things that he had missed before now was the way a certain nerd a grade below him but still in the advanced math class continuously pushed forward on his desk. Not hard enough for anyone else to notice, but with enough force to catch Matt's interest. Judging by that and the face the kid was making, he was seriously excited about the proof Mrs. Avers was writing out in chalk.

Matt had to give him props for finding something he was passionate about, besides that radio-girl, what was her name, Irma?

One seat ahead of him and another across was his best friend Nigel Ashcroft's desk. He was one of the brand new things. Well, not exactly. The way the boy was unable to stay still for longer than three milliseconds was new, completely different from the guy he'd known for most of his life, who was perfectly content to sit in one place, motionless, for twenty minutes.

Now, some part of the redhead was always moving. Whether it was his fingers tapping out a silent rhythm on his leg or his feet shifting or, and Matt could tell this without even seeing Nigel's face, the way his bright green eyes refused to stop on any one particular thing for too long. It was as if his heart had refused to push his blood as hard as it was needed to, and to keep the life flowing in his veins he had to manually move it himself.

Also brand new was a quality held by his new friend, Eric Lyndon, who sat on the same row, two seats down. Eric, unlike Nigel, could still manage to sit still, but a different and slightly more noticeable part of him had still changed.

Before Saturday, Eric had made sure to keep his hair neatly made, if still as curly as hair could ever be, and was average size for a guy his age. Health and presentation had been his mother's pet peeve since a young age, he'd told both Matt and Nigel over the weekend, and had unfortunately rubbed off unto her only son. It had gone as far as to being a very, very mild form of OCD, that he couldn't leave house without a clean and neat head and that he got 3 square meals a day.

Now, however, Eric's hair was standing in all directions, somehow fortunately still managing to look like an actual hairstyle and not one of those 'afro's Matt had seen on his grandfather in the pictures from the 70s. It was as if he'd been standing in the center of a gust of wind and spun around inside the gale several times, letting it blow through the strands in every possible way. 'Windswept' didn't begin to cover it.

Also different about the boy was his weight. If his mother came to visit her father and son from the Hawaiian Observatory she was working at with her husband, she would have exploded with questions about what he'd been eating to lose so much poundage.

Eric had been average before, and was now lean and skinny, his clothes hanging off of him like drapes. His grandfather had been shocked to see the sudden change in size in the clothes he wore, but had only put it off on 'teenage bodily instability' and a bad run through the washer and dryer.

Matt himself had gone through a few changes—none as noticeable as the other's, though. All Nigel and Eric could say was different about him was that he was a bit more muscular than they remembered. But they also mentioned that he'd been getting that way for the last two years.

Only two particular things earned the prestigious spot in the 'hadn't known existed' category. The two things that, if anyone but Nigel or Eric had known Matt could now see, would've earned him a one-way ride into the loony bin to have tea with a muzzled Hannibal Lecter and all the other psychos.

Matt's eyes turned back to the zealous mathlete in the front row—Martin. Martin was using his palms to press against the edges of the desk, his mouth slightly open and seemingly tiny compared to his wide eyes.

But to Matt's eyes only, a continuous ribbon of blue light traveled down Martin's arms, spiraling around them and connecting with the table with an amount of small spark flying off. As the ribbon continued to spiral, the connected turned in a circle, never leaving the table edge as long as he applied his pressure on it. The desk itself had a solid wall of green light at the very point where Martin's circling ribbons met the wood, exploding against it and turning most of the sparks blue-green.

Matt turned his head around the classroom and smiled at the same lights and sparks appearing in certain points; where people and their seats met, where furniture and the ground shared space, and even where his own pencil bounced off of the paper.

That was one of the things; the other was probably the source of a small golden sparkle in the window. He turned and craned his head to see out the dreary grey glass and smiled at the sight of a pinprick of light standing on the sill outside.

Matt smiled and winked at the tiny light, and though he couldn't tell for certain, he was pretty sure it was waving back. Even after only knowing each other for two days, he'd already found a good friend in that glowing speck of dirt.

Vaguely, he wondered if the redhead who'd fainted earlier was all right. He hadn't seen her in the halls since and those four friends of hers had seemed quiet since, staying in a tight group and not venturing out of each other's sights.

Matt shook his head and attempted to pay attention to Avers… once again fruitlessly. Even his thoughts about the subtle changes in his friends and himself were now being pushed aside, apparently trumped in importance to his subconscious by the image of the girl's pale, blank face, turned towards him as she lay unconscious on the tile. Somehow, he knew the eyes underneath the closed eyelids were a warm chocolate brown, more often then not lit with the inner fire of life.

He frowned. Why was he so concerned about this girl, this… Illie? Billie? Wilma, maybe? Those didn't sound right. He didn't know her and he now had bigger things to focus on. He had to focus on _those_ things, not…

_Who _is_ she?_

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**Better chappie tomorrow! And the day after! And possibly after that!**

**Review Please?**

**~Tibki**


	17. Chapter 17: PT II A Creek and a BOOM

**Well everyone, here it is. The first chapter in the second part of the story, a series I call FLASHBACK. Give you three guesses as to what's inside here, and the first two don't count.**

**It's kind of a shortie, sorry. But next chapter's pretty action-packed (no fighting, but a lot of freaking out) to make up for it. I tried to incorporate some humor in there, based on what people found funny earlier, but if I'm just making $hit awkward, tell me and I'll stop. :D**

**DISCLAIMED**

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_Sunset on Saturday _

Matt gasped and shot into a sitting position, his hands moving to steady himself and squishing noisily into the mud below him. By some strange, almost alien instinct, he immediately turned off of his rear and into a defensive crouch, one palm down to steady himself and one fist in the air in front of him. His eyes were narrowed and scanning the area around him, his brain logging everything meticulously.

_Some sort of creek_, he realized, taking in the tall weeds and soft muck under his feet, knee, and hand that was definitely going to stain. Enormous pine trees grew closely together a few hundred yards away in almost every direction, creating a dark shadowy area below the canopy.

_Perfect for sneak attacks, friendly and malevolent… what?_ Matt blinked, shaking his head. _Sneak attacks? I've been playing too many video games…_

The rumbling of cars and trucks came from not far behind him—probably a highway, and just by looking at the amount of red in the sky above him, they had to be near a city with big industry. Rural cities and places without factories had clearer skies, even at sunset.

_Wait, wait, WAIT!_ Matt stopped his train of thought dead. _How do I know that? I've never been in a rural city in my _life,_ I've barely ever gone outside Heatherfield…_

_Heatherfield_. Some part of Matt recognized the plant from… he didn't know where. But there was no forgetting the droopy pink blossoms that had been the first flowers to arrive, heralding the coming of spring last week. _I'm in the heather fields outside the city. But how'd I _get_ here?_

"Urgh, my _head_…" Matt spun on his heel and blinked in surprise at the familiar face that was two feet behind him. Nigel was pressing a hand to his temple as if to ward off a headache. "What happened last night…? Matt? Where are we?"

"I think we're in one of the fields outside the city," he replied. "You okay man?" Matt stood, getting out of his defensive position—_where did I learn _that_?_—and walking over to his friend.

Nigel grunted in reply. "Yeah. Feel like someone knocked me over the head with a baseball bat…"

"SECURITY CAMERA!"

Both boys leapt a foot into the air at the screech as a third boy on the other side of Nigel sat up and jumped into awareness.

"What the _#ell_?" the bassist managed.

Matt looked over the tussled black hair and white shirt and recognized the boy from his school. His grade, really good on the saxophone. "You're Eric Lyndon, right?" he asked, choosing to ignore what he'd said. People did strange things when waking up, he knew that. How exactly, though…

Eric's eyebrows met and his eyes closed as his face scrunched in pain. "Argh, my _head_… Yeah, 'm Eric. You're Matt Olsen and Nigel Ashcroft, right? Wreck 55?" The boys nodded. "Where are we?"

"Fields outside the city," Nigel repeated for his sake. "Dunno how we got here, though. Matt?"

Matt had barely heard any of the conversation. His instincts had overtaken his mind once more and he found himself scanning the mud below him. "One set of footprints, back and forth three times, my guess," he replied without thinking, pointing to the ground. "Dragmarks, but even throughout and there's no grass on our shoes… we must've been put on plastic or in bags and dragged out here by one guy," he realized.

Nigel and Eric shared a glance. When had Matt become a tracking expert? "O-kay… any idea _when_, Sacagawea?" Nigel asked.

"Mud's a little dried and our clothes aren't wet, so it hasn't rained. I'd say a couple hours… hey!" Matt turned and glared at his friend, who was hiding a smirk. "Sacagawea, my a$$, you ba$tard."

Nigel snickered before standing up as well. "Don't suppose you can tell us who kidnapped us, huh?" Eric asked dryly, crawling to his feet. "Or how, why… you know, the standard stuff you want to know after waking up in a strange place with a splitting headache?"

Matt shook his head. "If I knew that, I'd be psychic… no comments, Ashcroft."

"What, me?" Nigel asked innocently, though his grin betrayed him. "Never!"

_Yeah, right._ Matt turned away from his friend and squinted into the waist-high grass, trying to see the highway on the other side. "We should start heading back into the city. My gramps starts to freak out if I'm out of the house past nine."

"How far out do you think we are?" Eric wondered, craning his neck.

Nigel shook his head. "Nearest field to the suburbs alone is a mile off. I dunno about you, but my mile time isn't that great."

"Then we should probably get moving, huh?" Matt replied. "Don't worry, if you collapse from exhaustion we can carry you. _We're_ not weak little sissies." Nigel scowled at his friend.

The three boys started moving, sliding through the grass and weeds towards the sounds of civilization… or at least a few cars. The grass and rough terrain quickly separated the trio, but it was Eric who caught Nigel and Matt's attention with an ear-piercing whistle.

When Matt arrived at the same place his friends were, their backs were turned to him, looking down an enormous row of grass that seemed almost mown-down, ending in the muddy footprints near the creek.

"!)amn, what happened here?" he asked, looking over the torn stems and crushed stalks. Nigel and Eric leapt and spun as one—they hadn't heard him approach, even though Matt had clearly heard his footsteps and the _crunches_ each one had made.

"Dude! Give a guy a little warning, why don't you?" Eric demanded, clutching his chest. "Nearly gave me a freaking heart attack!"

Nigel only ribbed the other boy. "You'll get used to it," he assured him. "Matt's in ninja training. Haven't been able to hear him walking anywhere for almost a year."

Matt rolled his eyes. "I'm _not_ in ninja training," he told Eric, since he knew that trying to convince Nigel was futile. The guy had already decided he was and was not about to change his mind. _Though that would explain why I can track so well, and that little defensive thing when I woke up… Maybe I should check my closet for a black belt and a headband with a jujitsu symbol._

"So, did a tractor come plowing through here or something?" he asked, looking around.

Eric shook his head. "Nah. The guy who dragged us over to the creek must've done this."

Nigel stared at him. "The guy would have to be the size of a bus!" he exclaimed. "A herd of stampeding _elephants_ is more likely to have made this thing."

"We'd've heard stampeding elephants," Matt pointed out with a grin.

"I don't think _one_ guy could be this big."

Eric snorted. "_You've_ never met my Uncle Roscoe," he replied. "And maybe he carved a new path every time he walked by."

"What sense does _that_...?"

Matt suddenly shivered, his back straightening and shoulders arching backwards. The tips of his fingers and toes began tingling as all of the blood in them disappeared, retreating to some other part of the body. Matt curled his hands into fists and fell into another defensive crouch he didn't recognize, but this time, he didn't realize what he was doing. His conscious thoughts had taken a backseat as something deep within him sensed something coming directly at him.

Nigel and Eric stopped bickering as their friend suddenly shifted, crouching low to the ground, beneath the heads of the weeds surrounding them.

"Uh, Matt? You drop something?" Nigel asked, stepping forward. A curt, cutting but gentle _shhht!_ came from their friend as his elbows extended outwards slightly and his head raised to the area of the sky that was ever so much lighter than the surrounding heavens, the area in the direction of their city.

Almost immediately, a bright line of white fire came flying across the deep blue eastern sky, following the curvature of the stars and growing closer and closer to the spot directly above the boys' heads.

"Hey, Eric, you're the astronomy dude, right?" Nigel asked. "What comet is that?"

Eric was frowning, his brow furrowed. "It's not a comet," he replied, voice laced with plain confusion. "There's no comets due here for the next _year_. And even if they were, they wouldn't get that close to Zenith from Heatherfield." Nigel stared at him. "Zenith's vertical from where you're standing."

"Oh. Then what is it?"

As they watched, the ray of light reached the very tip of Zenith and suddenly stopped its trek across the sky. Instead of continuing to the other horizon like everything in space did and it should've done, though, it instead began taking a path…

"I dunno, but it's coming right at us!" Eric yelped, backing up as it dropped like a stone in a pond.

"Move!" Matt shouted at them. The two boys didn't need any other warning—they dove for the weeds, for whatever cover the flimsy stalks would provide them from whatever was about to plant an enormous crater in their field.

Matt, however, didn't budge, and when whatever was falling to Earth came down, it landed, without slowing one bit, directly in his outstretched hand.

_FOOM._

Winds from the harshest storms suddenly blew against the field, originating from the point where Matt had caught the falling object. Everything around him in a ten foot radius was uprooted and thrown across the field, and the rest of the plants were nearly bent in half by the sheer force of the sudden, unexpected gale.

Nigel and Eric, unable to get away, were thrown backwards, landing solidly in the creek with a pair of splashes they wouldn't have been able to make in the city pool. The wind blasted against their cheeks, forcing its way into their lungs and nearly pulling the hair from their scalps. The hairs on their arms and the back of their necks rose as they were forced to breathe the strangely sweet air in the wind.

Matt, in the very epicenter of the blast, was shoved down onto his knees, his hand still extended upwards, whatever he'd caught digging slightly painfully into his palm. He couldn't yell, though—to call for help, to say anything at all, to scream in pain even, required him to breathe _out_. The wind was also forcing its way into his chest as well, filling every tiny cavity in his lungs with the sweet, heather-tinted air of the field.

As quickly as it had happened, it ended. Within seconds, the field was completely silent, not even the singing birds, crickets, or cicadas breaking the all-consuming calm.

And at the very center of the quiet lay Matt, collapsing onto his knees, a small pendant on a leather string in his right hand.

* * *

**I love cliffhangers. They're evil, but not completely cruel if you keep updating (I was cruel after chapter five and I'm still ashamed.)... kinda like Doofenshmirtz from _Phineas and Ferb_.**

**...**

**Please tell me I'm not the only teenager who watches that show.**

**Review and I'll wove wu fo-ehva and ehva and ehva!**

**~Tibki**


	18. Chapter 18: Holy!

**I hit 'save' on the document editor and it said I had to log in again. I did and it hadn't saved. FUUUUUUUU-DGE.**

**Anyway. Hiya! XD Hope you liked last chapter since this is a continuation. We're still in part II, which means this is still a flashback. We'll get back to the girls and Mr. Olsen soon enough, though.** **I will NOT take two years to update AGAIN! So swears Tibki Magyarországunok****ája****!**

**But here's the chapter for today! Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED.**

* * *

_Saturday, Twilight_

"I am getting _sick_ and _tired_ of ending up in mud," Eric groaned, picking his head up from the moist earth and wiping the muck from his eyes and face. "Why would girls put this on their faces on purpose?"

"Think about it this way," Nigel replied, eyes still closed in pain. He snorted, blowing hard out his nose to dislodge a clump of mud from his right nostril. "At least our pores'll be nice and clean." Eric stared at him, reminding Nigel of the dirt-worn soldiers in the old war films he'd watched with his brother and father years ago. "What? My mom says it, and my sister always agrees… Oh my God, where's Matt?"

Nigel immediately scrambled to his feet, the mud squishing noisily underneath the rubber soles of his sneakers. He whipped his head around the area, searching for any sign of his black-haired buddy.

"Matt!" Nigel cupped his hands around his mouth. "Bro, can you hear me?"

"Urrrrrrgggh."

A sound not unlike the groans of the unholy dead arisen from the grave came from the same place they had been standing less than ten minutes ago. Nigel, having known Matt just about longer than Matt knew himself, recognized that as the sound his best friend made every time he was woken from a deep sleep and began running, against the blown-down weeds and towards the epicenter of the blast. Judging by the rustle of plants behind him, Eric was following as well, if more slowly.

"Whoa." Nigel stepped backwards a little when he reached the crater at the center of the blast ring, at least four foot into the ground and almost 20 feet in diameter. In the very middle of the torn and mixed earth was Matt, lying on his side in fetal position, his hands against his chest and between his neck and knees.

"Matt!" Without another thought, Nigel knelt onto the grass and slid down the edges of the crater, stumbling slightly at the bottom but not stopping until he slid to a stop at his friend's side. "C'mon man, wake up!"

"Wa-ah!" Matt shot into a sitting position, his eyes wide and his hands flying, suddenly awake. Nigel yelped in surprise and fell backwards, landing on his butt in the cool soil. "Whoa… what a ride," Matt said, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Yeah, you didn't exactly take flight," Nigel muttered in reply. Matt's brow furrowed in confusion as vague images of black feathers fluttered past his mind's eye—where were _those_ from? "Dude, you okay?"

Matt shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind as he registered Nigel's words. "Yeah, I think so. Man, this is one big crater."

"Yeah. Any idea what made it?" Matt frowned and looked down at his right hand, weighed down slightly by something inside of it. He held it up and slowly opened his fist, revealing a small, blue-and-green splotched cube pendant on a leather string.

It felt warm in his hand, like a rock left in the sun on a balmy summer day, transferring the hot energy the massive star had given it, slowly and tenderly into his hand. The warmth spread, flowing down his wrist and arm into the rest of his body, not stopping until his entire being felt as if he had just woken from a long nap underneath the sun.

"What is _that_?" Nigel asked, leaning forward to inspect it closely.

Matt looked up and did a double take at the sight of his friend. "Dude! Better question: what are you _wearing_?"

Nigel looked down, just noticing the change in wardrobe he didn't remember going through. Gone was his favorite, slightly big green jacket with the popped collar, purple shirt, and bright orange converse. They had disappeared; vanished into thin air, and replaced by a simple red t-shirt, combat boots, and leather padding over his knees, thighs, and shoulders. A pair of what seemed to be _daggers_ was tied to the belt on his waist, and Nigel just noticed a light set of red-tinted glasses sitting on his nose.

"What the #ell?" he asked, glancing up at his friend. "Dude! Same question to you!"

Matt turned down and nearly jumped—just like his friend, he'd gone through a unseen clothing switch. In the place of his signature purple sweatshirt and white cargoes was a bright green shirt, pitch black pants, and leather armor just a fe shades lighter than Nigel's, and a singular dagger at his waist. In place of the second knife was a long, tapering blade in a sheath sitting on his back, and a pair of gold glasses otherwise identical to his friend's sat in front of his eyes.

"Guys!" Both Nigel and Matt turned as Eric's voice carried over the edge of the crater. "I've got an even better question that that! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?"

Matt jumped to his feet as Nigel scrambled to his, scanning the edges of the crater for their friend. After spinning 360 degrees, some impulse Matt didn't realize he had made him look upwards.

"Eric! Where are you?" Nigel called. Matt, mouth hanging and staring towards the sky, tugged on his friend's shirt. "Eric…! Matt, _what_?"

Matt pointed up and Nigel followed his finger, his own mouth dropping.

"Holy $hit," the redhead muttered.

"HELP ME!" Eric screamed, hovering freely 15 feet above the ground, his swinging his arms and legs, trying to grab onto something that would steady him. Unfortunately, the only thing around was empty air—the very last thing he could steady himself on.

"How?" Matt yelled in reply, even though he was already climbing up the crater, hoping to get closer to the suddenly flying boy.

"_Try_ and _land!_" Nigel shouted, having a little trouble following Matt while still staring at the sax player.

"How?" Eric echoed Matt. "I don't start defying gravity on a regular basis! That's _Wicked_! How do I steer this thing?"

Nigel blinked in surprise and looked at Matt. "Did… he just make a reference to a Broadway musical?"

Matt shrugged, not really focused on the boy's words as much as on his predicament. Eric, now thoroughly panicked, had shot off at speeds Uriah would achieve in a joyride down a highway. The boy's hands desperately clawed the air in front of him, instinctually fearing the fall that would lead to extreme pain or even death and trying to prevent it, though some other force was obviously doing it for him.

"Try calming down!" Matt cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, hoping that he would hear him over the wind that had to be rushing past his ears. "If your powers are connected to your emotions, freaking out'll only make it worse!"

"_Powers_?" Eric repeated shrilly, suddenly gaining altitude. He shrieked as he grew vertical, flying towards the stars he watched so often. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!"

"Told ya," Matt winced.

Eric reached the peak of his climb and stopped, floating at least fifty above the field, waving his arms and kicking his legs as if he were treading water. Unable to resist the urge, he looked down and saw the large crater and green plant life far below him, and swallowed nervously.

"Eric!" Matt called again. "Can you hear me?" The small white shape didn't seem to have heard. "ERIC!"

"MATT!" Eric yelled in reply. "HELP ME!"

"We have to get him down," Nigel said urgently. "Some low-flying plane or helicopter's gonna come by and chop him to pieces!"

Matt's mind kicked into overdrive. Eric's flight was connected to his emotions, he _knew_ it (even if he didn't know how he knew) but it seemed only the speed of it was affected by his panic. Movement of the person flying, arms spread out or something like that, usually controlled the actual movement and direction. Moving so that he was aimed at the ground would help quicken the descent, if Eric didn't completely freak over the sight of the ground coming up at him.

"His nerves are gonna keep him from getting down," Matt said, more to himself than Nigel. "If he doesn't calm down he'll never touch Earth again."

Nigel shook his head. "I don't think he's gonna calm down any time soon. If it was me, my heart'd be going three times normal speed."

A sharp tingle snapped in Matt's hand, making him look down at it in surprise. The small pendant, almost forgotten until now, sat in his palm innocently, but the lingering feeling in his palm right below it told of the object's guilt. A single word appeared in Matt's mind, and, by some subconscious drive, his tongue formed it.

"Heart?" he repeated, frowning.

Matt gasped as the small cube exploded into a bright blue light, nearly blinding the two boys n the ground. Nigel winced and covered his eyes while Matt tried to look away, but found he couldn't. His eyes were glued to the glowing object.

Eric saw the flash of light below him. "Guys!" he shouted earthward. "What's happening?"

As quickly as it had begun, the explosion ended. Instead of in his hand, the charm was now roped around Matt's neck, hanging freely against his chest. He opened his eyes, shaking his head to clear the dots in his vision.

"Ouch. What was that?" Nigel asked, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses.

Matt shrugged, fingering the necklace. "Dunno. But one thing at a time, we gotta… whoa!" He looked up at Eric, eyes wide. "Dude, are you seeing this?"

Nigel raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, amn, we already realized, _Eric is freaking flying_. Are you feeling alright?"

"That's not what I'm talking about. Are you telling me you can't see that?" Matt pointed to the ground right below Eric. A bright green ribbon of light, twisting and twirling, stretched from the boy's heart down to Earth, connecting solidly with the ground that seemed to have some sort of reddish-glow.

"See what?" Nigel asked, looking at the empty air underneath the flying boy.

"GUYS! WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE?" Eric yelled, not happy at being kept out of the loop. "TELL ME YOU'RE FIGURING OUT A WAY TO GET ME DOWN!"

"You can't see that light?" Matt turned to look at Nigel. "That one, right there?" Nigel followed his friend's finger to perfectly normal grass.

"MATT'S LOSING IT!" Nigel yelled in reply to Eric.

Matt glared at his friend before frowning in thought. "That light has to from be his powers, keeping him from coming down," he muttered, ignoring the alarmed looks Nigel was giving him. "Like… like a normal force, that thing in Physics last week. That has to be giving him lift. And the red light is the gravity that's supposed to be pulling him down… if I could get rid of the green, he'd land! But _how_…?"

Nigel turned up to Eric. "If you figure out the controls, can you fly us to the asylum?" he called up. "Matt's late for an appointment!"

"Shht!" Matt hissed, throwing out a finger to silence his friend. He blinked, staring at the digit for a moment. "Whoa." Nigel looked at his friend's finger—totally normal. "That has to be it. That's why I can see it and you can't!" Matt turned back up to Eric.

"Dude! I'm gonna try and get you down, okay? Just don't panic!"

Eric swallowed. "I'll try!"

Matt looked down at his right hand and glanced up at the flying boy before snapping his arm out and sweeping across his line of vision, closing it into a fist as it came back. Nigel's eyes widened as a bright green line of light appeared, just for a moment, inside Matt's grasp before it faded…

And Eric began falling.

"Oh $hit, I did it too fast!" Matt shouted in surprise as he began plummeting to Earth. The green force had disappeared once he'd sliced through it and torn it from under Eric, so he had no way of replacing it. "Eric! Try and lift back up!"

Eric didn't reply. It would've been a miracle if he could hear him while the wind screamed past his ear and while he hollered in pure fright.

"I got him!" Nigel yelled, running towards the drop point at full speed.

Suddenly, the entire field turned into one massive green blur to him, plantlife passing by him so quickly his eyes couldn't keep up. Nigel immediately dug his heels into the earth, stopping in pure shock and turning around.

A gaping Matt had to be at least 50 yards behind him.

"Holy…"

"Get Eric!" Matt apparently had recovered a lot faster than Nigel had, and pointed up to the still falling boy now between them. Nigel spun on his heel and knelt into the dirt like he'd seen racers do on TV, rocking back and forth, timing his takeoff and Eric's fall.

When he was 5 feet from the ground, Nigel took off. Matt swore quietly as his friend faded into a bright red streak running directly at him.

Halfway down the same path Nigel had taken before, the white, flailing, once-flying saxophone player met the front of the streak squarely and the whole thing promptly turned a dull pink.

Two feet in front of his best friend, Nigel put on the brakes, sending up a shower of dirt, mud, and grass that Matt turned his head to avoid. The boy appeared right next to him, having slid the last few feet, Eric held in his arms bridal-style. Nigel yelped as he lost his balance and fell over, landing squarely on Eric's side.

"Yeowch!" Nigel leapt back up, rubbing his left arm. "Dude! You _stabbed_ me!"

Eric, feet once more planted firmly on the ground, carefully stood, shaking slightly. "Thanks for saving me, man," he said gratefully, "and with that said, don't… _ever_ do that to me again! God, I think I'm gonna throw up…"

Matt looked over the final boy in their trio. Like Nigel and himself, Eric had on a pair of colored shades; a very light grey instead of gold or red. A simple grey shirt and white-and-grey camouflage cargoes stood in place of his white shirt and jeans, and while a single dagger was hidden on his belt, a bow and a quiver of grey-fletched arrows, the culprits of Nigel's stab wounds, sat on his back instead of a second blade. Eric seemed a little thinner than he'd been before and his hair definitely hadn't been that windblown before his sudden take-off.

"Guys." The other boys quieted and turned to Matt at his serious tone. Matt was holding the small cube around his neck in one hand and was watching the two of them with a worried look in his eyes.

"What _happened_ to us?"

* * *

**THAT will be revealed in due time, my boy. In due time.**

**If you guys want to know what the boys look like in their 'stumes, I set up a DeviantArt account (same username) and will upload the pictures very very soon. However, since I possess the artistic skill of my pet Beta Fish Kueri, I saved you the excruciating pain of looking at my horrible attempts at design and used an awesome piece of software called HeroMachine(3, to be precise). My friend showed it to me two years ago and I've been using it ever since.**

**Check it out if you want.**

**I beggeth thee to revieweth my story-eth. (Ever notice how bad Olde English is kinda like a screwed up version of Pig Latin?)**

**~Tibki**


	19. Chapter 19: Sunday Morning Coffee

**Hi y'all. **

**Here's today's chapter. Sorry if I'm a bit direct, but I missed my equivalent of a double-shot cup of coffee this morning and then had to go to a summer course Driver's Ed class. I didn't want to take it at all, but my parents needed the insurance discount and my sister started this year, so I was enrolled too. There's only a couple people my age in the class-nearly everyone else is younger.**

**But anyway, enough of my griping about my oh-so-hard life (please note sarcasm), you guys opened this story for the chapter and here it is. Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own W.I.T.C.H, nor do I own The Flash or Marvel Comics (where he's from), who is mentioned twice.**

* * *

_Sunday Morning_

When Matt woke up on Sunday, he thought, for three seconds, that it had all been a dream.

The kidnapping, the dumping, the little cube and the powers, all of it. Just a freakish dream that had come from way too much cold pizza before bed. Nigel wasn't a bad copyright infringement of The Flash, Eric wasn't able to defy gravity, and he wasn't able to see and change forces acting on objects.

He thought he'd dreamt how the three of them had returned to their original clothes shortly after Nigel had rescued Eric, in a flash of blue light, how Nigel had sworn very colorfully when he realized a two mile trip would take eternity compared to if he'd "powered up", and how Eric had suggested they leave the cube right in the field and forget any of that had ever happened.

He'd fantasized that when he got home, his grandfather _hadn't_ chewed him out for staying out so late, and that he _hadn't_ heard those strange noises or seen random objects moving out of the corner of his eye. That Mr. Huggles had given him a sniff and _hadn't_ cocked his head as if in confusion at him, then decided to sleep on the other side of the room.

That fantasy lasted all of three seconds.

"!"

_What the #ell?_ Matt groaned and turned in bed, searching for the source of the very, very strange alarm he was hearing.

Nigel's bright green eyes shone at him less than two inches away from his face.

He promptly screamed and shot backwards in bed, conking his head on the wall. Stars exploded in his vision and he clamped a hand to the now-aching area. "Ow! Nige! What the #ell?"

"Yes, you're awake! I knew I could get you awake, I knew I could, Eric, didn't I say I could wake him up? I did, didn't I? I knew I could get you up, no one can wake people up like I can!"

Matt followed his friend's gaze and saw a highly-amused Eric sitting backwards on his desk chair. The boy's hair hadn't seemed come down since the rollercoaster he had sent himself on last night…

Last night.

"That was all real, wasn't it?" Matt asked, now rubbing the side of his face.

Nigel nodded so enthusiastically, his hair followed his head up and down. "Yup! Every minute of it, no matter how much Eric thinks we're all crazy or schizo or something! We really did get kidnapped and dumped in a field outside of town and you really got hit by a flying necklace and we really did get awesome powers and Eric really did take off and you really did knock him down and I really did run fast enough to pull up every weed in that field and…!"

"He woke me up 20 minutes ago," Eric explained to Matt, who had swung his feet over the bed and was currently rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "I don't know _what_ happened to him, but the guy's acting like my 2-year-old cousin on a major sugar rush."

Matt frowned at Nigel, who was continuously yammering on. Now that he really looked, his friend's eyes never seemed to stay still on one particular thing, stopping for just a second before straying to something else.

"He gets pretty hyper sometimes, but nothing like this," Matt replied. "Nigel, you feeling alright?"

Nigel's nearly maddened eyes met his and another wide grin burst across his face. "Are you kidding me, man, I haven't felt this great in years! I feel like I could take on the biggest wrestler in the world in a Texas Cage Match to the death, like I could run around the world in half a second!" Nigel giggled and Matt started getting concerned. "You know," he added in a whisper that could've easily been heard by anyone in the room, "I really _would_ be able to, if you used that little cube thingy again!"

"Whoa, who, _no!_" Eric stood, crossing his arms. "Sorry, but I thought we agreed to put that all behind us."

"Obviously, it's not behind us." Matt looked at Eric, unable to hold back a grin. "Nigel always has a double espresso Americano every morning, has for the past five years."

"So?"

"So what do you think happens if you pump The Flash up full of caffeine?" Both boys turned to look at Nigel, who had stopped talking and was currently poking through Matt's closet curiously. "I don't think we can just _ignore_ the changes we just went through, dude. At the very least, Nigel's heart'll go out sooner or later."

Nigel must've heard part of that last sentence. "Didja know, a hummingbird's heartbeat is so fast it sounds like a buzzing?" he asked, beginning to throw clothes out of Matt's dresser. "I wonder what mine sounds like when I'm running, cuz if you think about it, my blood has to be moving pretty fast for my legs to run that quick. Hey, do you think, if I got some kinda cut while running, I'd bleed out faster than normal people would cuz my heart would be working faster, or would it heal faster cuz my blood'd work faster to patch up the cut?"

"Let's… _not_ find that out, huh?" Matt suggested. "And stop making a mess! My gramps is already angry at me for coming home late last night."

Nigel didn't seem to hear and dug further into the pile of clothes.

"Nigel may not be able to, but I can definitely give it my best shot," Eric replied, crossing his arms. "I am _not_ flying again."

Matt looked at the boy sympathetically. "Afraid of heights?"

"Heights, no. Moving really, really fast, at _that_ height, yes." Eric watched as Nigel started complaining about how Matt didn't keep anything but clothes in his closet, and how every other member of the human race hid things in their sock drawer, and how he hid his blackmail pictures in his. Matt made a mental note to check that drawer for any pictures of himself, next time he visited the Ashcrofts'. "How long do you think this'll last?"

"Till he tires himself out." Matt stood, stretching and looking out the window at the dreary weather outside. "Beautiful day."

"You have no idea." Eric rolled his eyes. "My hair was neat when I stepped out the door."

Matt picked up a sweatshirt and a pair of pants from the floor where Nigel had thrown them and walked into his bathroom to change and wash up. While he was in there, he called out to the boys still in his room.

"Hey, not to be rude or anything, but why're you guys here?"

"I told you Nigel woke me up a few minutes ago. He told me he had bad news for you and that my house was between yours and his," Eric replied, his voice relaying the glare he was obviously shooting at the redhead.

Matt was just finishing up brushing his teeth when Nigel realized it was his turn to talk. "Oh yeah." The boy's voice was obviously dejected. "You know that gig we had yesterday? We kinda missed it cuz we got kidnapped…?"

Matt's eyes widened and he spat the foamy liquid in his mouth out in surprise—thankfully into the sink. "Oh _man_." He leaned forward and rested his head on the glass of the mirror.

"Yeah. Anyway, Pedro woke me up when he called me on my cell—he apparently doesn't have my home phone number, weird huh, I mean we've been friends forever and in a band together longer…"

"The point, Nige?" Matt asked, stepping out of the bathroom.

"The point, right. Anyway, Pedro doesn't think he can be in a band who's leader singer and guitarist and bassist skip out on basically every gig they get, so he quit. Plus he's kinda moving to San Diego so he kinda had to. I wanted to tell him we were busy getting kidnapped by some mysterious dude, but he didn't listen and hung up on me. You know, he was kinda a jerk anyway, I think we'll be better off without him and…"

Matt's eyes widened, worry about the missing band member instantly vaporized by the much more pressing matter. "Nigel!" he yelped, shutting the redhead up. "You can't tell _anyone_ about what happened last night!"

"Why not?" he asked, cocking his head in a way that reminded Matt so much of Huggles, he almost laughed.

"Because we'll probably get picked up by an asylum if we told anyone," Eric put in, "or some kind of government laboratory where they'll stick you full of needles to see how fast your reaction time is."

Matt knew he was only saying that to freak Nigel out, and while he disapproved (Nige had a _totally_ rational fear of needles due to a childhood incident), he had to admit it worked. Nigel shivered and shook his head just as hard as he'd nodded it earlier.

"Hey, who do you think kidnapped us, anyway?" Eric and Matt blinked at him. "Well, someone obviously wanted us, and that was even before we got these powers. Why would whoever they are want us?"

"Better question, _how_ did they kidnap us?" Eric asked. "I can't remember it. I can't remember anything of Saturday after meeting you at your front door."

Nigel nodded once more. "Yeah, yeah! We were talking you into coming cuz you were feeling kinda sick and then you went back in to get your phone and then we were waking up in the field! You know, the first time, not the second time after you caught the space-jewelery."

Matt frowned at the pair of them. "I can't remember even that," he replied, racking his brains for the memory that didn't seem to be there. "I went to sleep Friday night at eight and woke up in the field."

"You can't remember Saturday at all?"

"Not before the sunset when we woke up." Matt ran a hand through his hair. "I've been remembering odd things here and there, but nothing from Saturday."

"Odd things?" Eric repeated, frowning. "Like what?"

He scowled and shrugged. "I don't know. Random things. Black feathers. A snowy mountain. A really bad smell. Lots and lots of medieval weapons. They could be movies I watched forever ago, for all I know!"

"Or they could have something to do with our kidnapping," Nigel spoke up. "You were acting really really really nervous when you answered the door, I remember that. Kept glancing over your shoulder at something. And… and maybe we said something about Korean rat poison?"

Matt shook his head. "We don't have any Korean rat poison. _Why_ would we have Korean rat poison when I've got a pet dormouse who'd die from it?"

At the mention of himself, Mr. Huggles sat up on the pile of laundry he'd been sleeping on. He chirped a few times and ran across the room, crawling up Matt's pantleg and stopped contentedly on his shoulder.

"Hey, Mr. H," he said with a smile, petting the small furry head. Huggles batted his palm gently. He may not have known what exactly was going on with him, but the boy was still his master and best friend, and though he wasn't outwardly showing it, Huggles could tell he was stressed.

"So… should we try and find out who kidnapped us?" Eric wondered.

"How? We don't exactly have any clues." Nigel counted off on his fingers. "We know they took us sometime early in the morning on Saturday. We _don't_ know how, why, exactly when, or even where they took us from _or_ to. There's at least 12 hours completely missing from our memories, more for Matt, who's missing like... 24. We woke up two miles outside of town and we know that it was one person dragging us out from a highway one at a time in bags or on plastic. That's really it, assuming the whole 'powers' thing has absolutely nothing to do with it. And even if it does have something to do with it, it wouldn't give us an answer to any of our questions, and just add more to boot!"

Matt sighed. "You're right. We don't know anything about these guys or their plans... So we've gotta find it out."

"How?" Eric asked. "If we don't have a starting point, how could we possibly do anything?"

"We _find_ our starting point," Matt replied with a smile. "If we go back to the field, we might find another clue or something that we missed earlier, to help us."

Nigel perked up at the suggestion. "Plus we can try out our new powers!"

"I don't think so!" But Nigel was already running down the stairs, yelling at them to hurry up because he really wanted to see how fast he went, and that he might be able to get a speedometer from his brother or a friend of his brother's if they could make a stop on the way.

Eric groaned. "I really don't want to try that again," he told Matt seriously, almost begging as the boy took the necklace out from his bedside table drawer and strung it around his neck, dropping it under his jacket.

"Relax, man." Matt clapped a hand on Eric's shoulder and smiled. He had to admit, he was pretty psyched about finding out just what he could do with the forces surrounding him too. "We'll leash you to a tree or something. You'll be fine."

"Leash my a$$!"

Matt began cackling as he ran downstairs, dodging a suddenly angry jazz performer.

* * *

**Well, there it is. Sorry if it's kinda filler, but I think it was kinda funny... or that may just be the effects of the caffeine-equivalent I just had. Ig I'n missspelling anuthong, plrase telk me. (Bonus points if you could read that.) ;P**

**Til Tomorrow, my friends.**

**~Tibki**


	20. Chapter 20: Normalcy and a Mudfight

**'Ello 'ello 'ello! Here's chapter 20, fresh off the presses... from the day before yesterday. :)**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I made a list of thing I did not own, W.I.T.C.H, NCIS, Danny Phantom, Leverage, How to Train Your Dragon, the Sorcerer's Apprentice, Thor, Static Shock, and Even Stevens would all be on it.**

* * *

_Sunday, Noon_

The trio had left the Olsen house a while ago, two on bikes and one on foot. Matt's old bike, the one he'd replaced only a year ago, fit the slightly smaller Eric like a glove, and Nigel was easily able to keep up with the pair of them even without powering up.

In reality, it was more like Matt and Eric were able to keep up with Nigel. The boy received more than one astonished stare as he sped ahead of his friends and waited for them at the end of each intersection, grinning and leaning against a telephone pole while Eric huffed to keep up. Matt seemed to stay in middle ground, possessing fairly strong muscles from some sport he couldn't really remember, instead of super speed.

After a quick stopover at Nigel's brother Ross's shady friend's house to pick up a speedometer that, judging by the partially-scratched off paint on it's side, once belonged to the HPD, Nigel slowed enough for Matt to remain in the lead at a constant pace. After all, Matt could probably remember the way to the field better than he could, and besides, it was more fun teasing Eric in the back.

"C'mon dude, you can do it, almost there, just a couple more miles, right Matt?"

Matt decided to stay out of this.

"Right! Almost there, Eric, you can do it!" Nigel was running backwards in front of Eric's bike at this point. "C'mon, pump those legs! Feel the burn, embrace the pain! Watch those inches melting off your waist!"

"Shut… up… you ba$tard," Eric gasped, glaring at the redhead. He only laughed in response. "I swear… I… will kill you!"

"If you can catch me!" Nigel replied with a wide grin before zooming off beside Matt, giggling at the swearwords Eric was shouting at him. "Hey, how far do you think we are?"

Matt grinned at his friend. "Why? Getting tired?" At this point even he was panting gently, but Nigel hadn't even broken a sweat.

"You kidding? This feels _great!_" Nigel laughed and sped forward a little before coming back to Matt's side. "Man, I could go on for—!"

The redhead froze in place, tripping over his foot and falling flat on his face.

Matt braked as soon as possible and threw the bike into the ditch next to the highway shoulder they had been riding on, running towards his collapsed friend. Eric reached him first and hopped off the other bicycle, kneeling next to the redhead on the asphalt.

"Nigel!" Eric said, worried for the boy who'd been continuously tormenting him since waking him that morning. Matt slid on his cargoes to a stop next to him. "What happened?"

"Nige, wake up, bud." Matt put one hand on his forehead and another on his cheek. "He doesn't have a fever and his color's good. He wasn't sick when he woke up this morning, was he?"

Eric shook his head and looked at Matt seriously. "You said his heart could go out from overexertion," he said with large eyes. "You don't think…?"

Matt swallowed and pressed two fingers to the jugular on his best friend's neck. _Please don't be dead, please don't be dead…_

"Normal pulse," he relayed with a sigh of relief. "He's alive at least."

"What do you think happened?" Eric wondered.

As if in response, Nigel opened his mouth and released an enormous snore, turning on his side and curling into fetal position.

The two boys shared a look and simultaneously burst into laughter, Eric even falling onto the asphalt of the shoulder, clutching his middle.

After a solid minute of laughter, Matt tried to speak. "The caffeine…" he took a large breath to calm himself before continuing. "The caffeine must've worn off and the exhaustion must've hit him all at once."

"Oh man, I wish I had my camera," Eric said, wiping an imaginary tear. "Tell me we don't have to carry him that far?"

Matt shook his head. "Couple more yards and we'll be there," he assured him. "Course, it'd be easier if we could get him up."

A shrill chirping came from behind Matt as a small white ball of fur crawled out of his hood, jumping off of his shoulder. "Mr. Huggles?" he asked.

The dormouse ignored him, instead leaping onto Nigel's chest. He scampered forward, sniffing the boy's neck and then face curiously. Huggles put his front two paws on Nigel's cheeks, bent down, and…

"YAAAAAH!" Matt and Eric roared with laughter as the tiny rodent clamped onto the redhead's nose. Nigel shot into a sitting position, catapulting the small dormouse into the air. Huggles twisted, much like a cat, and landed on his paws three feet away, looking very proud of himself.

"My nose!" Nigel yelped, holding the bitten appendage delicately. Matt stood and picked up the tiny animal, giving him a boost back onto his shoulder. "He _bit_ me!"

"Matt, I love your dormouse!" Eric managed, still giggling. Nigel glowered at the smaller boy.

"Good job, buddy," Matt grinned as Nigel spun and glared at him as well, choosing not to react and instead only pet Mr. Huggles. "Thanks, Mr. H. Now we know who to call if Nige ever has another narcoleptic episode."

"I can't believe you guys are my friends." No longer hyper, Nigel crossed his arms and scowled at the pair of them. "You know what? I disown you. And your little rat too!"

Mr. Huggles raised his hackles and spat at Nigel. "Dormouse," Matt corrected flippantly. "He really hates being called a rat. And unless you want a pierced ear along with that nose, I wouldn't call him one."

Eric chuckled again and _almost_ managed to dodge Nigel's punch.

"So what're we gonna do first?" Nigel asked, looking around the slightly drier crater they were standing in and stopping his gaze on Matt.

Matt blinked in surprise. "Why're you asking _me?_" he asked.

He shrugged. "Hey, you're the one holding the space-jewel thingymabob and you're the one who can change us into those awesome uniforms. I'm guessing that means you're the leader of our ragtag little group of misfits."

Eric glared at the boy. "I don't know who you're calling a misfit, carrot-top," Nigel touched his bright scarlet locks with a scowl, "but the _last_ thing I'm doing today is changing into those so-called uniforms." He turned to Matt. "He's still got a point, though—I think you're meant to be head of whatever this thing is that I'm not part of."

Matt looked at the other two boys and sighed, resisting the urge to rub his temples. "Okay, I guess. Eric, since you don't want to try anything, see if you can find anything to help us figure out more about the kidnapping, okay?" Eric nodded seriously and started towards the creek a few feet away. "Nige, since you _do_ wanna try a couple things, how about we see how fast you go normally first?"

Nigel burst into a grin so large, Matt was worried for a moment that he'd begun another rush. "Sweet," he said. "You might wanna take a couple steps back, man, that speedometer doesn't work unless it's 10 feet off."

Matt picked up the large, ray-gun shaped speedometer and turned around, walking to the very center of the crater. Nigel climbed up to the top edge of the crater and knelt into the ground like he'd done earlier, waiting for Matt's call.

"And… go!"

Nigel took off, circling the crater as quickly as he could. Matt held the ray gun steady, waiting for the neon green lights to pop up on the tiny black screen. After a few moments of nothing but three green dots, three numbers appeared and Matt's eyebrows shot upwards.

Nigel dug his heels into the soil to brake, pulling up nearly an inch of dirt in one straight row. He waved his arms in large circles to keep his balance up, and managed not to fall. Grinning at his triumph, he slid down into the crater once more to his gaping friend.

"Well? What's the verdict?

Matt shook his head and turned the machine to show him the read-out. A small green 41.5 flashed on the screen. "Sweet," Nigel grinned. "I'm faster than Don on _Even Stevens_."

Rolling his eyes, Matt shook his head once more. "Dude. _Even Stevens_ is _fiction_. The fastest guy in the world doesn't run this fast."

"How fast is he?"

"23 miles an hour." Nigel's eyes widened. "Nige, you're nearly twice as fast as him. And that's _normally_."

"Holy $hit." After a short moment of shocked silence, Nigel grinned at his friend. "Your turn."

"What?" Matt stepped away. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, _whoa_! What're you talking about _'my turn'_?"

Nigel shrugged. "Well, you said you didn't want to test my theories on how quick I'd bleed out or heal, and there's nothing really else for us to do except test _your_ powers while we're still normal."

"Uh, I dunno man, I don't think I really _have_ any powers without switching…"

The redhead scratched his chin, thoughtful. "Well, maybe they need a jumpstart." Before Matt could even protest, Nigel shot up next to him, took his hand, and made him grab the pendant hung around his neck.

Pins and needles shot up Matt's arm, making a path to the very back of his eyeballs. He winced and closed his eyelids for a moment, until the feeling had subsided. When he opened them, however, his eyebrows shot towards his hairline once more.

Every plant in his sight was suddenly glowing with the forces he'd seen the night before. Any inch of ground holding something was tinted bright red with gravity, keeping that rock or weed from floating off into thin air, and every plant and rock was filled with a writhing ribbon of neon green light, the normal force keeping it from sinking into the Earth.

"Whoa!" Matt turned and saw Nigel's eyes widen in pure shock. "What _is_ all of that?"

He smirked. "Not so crazy now, am I?"

"Unless we're _all_ crazy."

Matt rolled his eyes. "I think the red's the force of gravity and the green's the normal force," he explained, pointing at a rock near their feet. Nigel swore and Matt blinked—a bright green shaft of light, similar to the ones in the plants and rocks, was twisting around his wrist like some sort of living bracelet.

"What's _that_?" Nigel asked, trying to poke the bracelet. His finger passed right through it.

"I think… it's the normal force I tore out from under Eric last night," Matt replied, holding it closer. "You know, when he started falling?" Nigel's wide eyes met his own, but he cut him off before he could ask. "I don't think I took away his powers, just stopped him from flying for that particular time."

"Wonder if you can do it again," Nigel said, taking his hand off of the charm. "Hey, where'd they go?"

Matt frowned and removed his hands as well. Sure enough, the lights surrounding literally everything faded into the ether, leaving an otherwise completely normal world around him. However, a familiar tingle remained just behind his eyes, and with only a gentle push, the feeling expanded and the lights re-appeared.

He grinned at Nigel. "My powers, my trigger," he told him. Nigel rolled his eyes.

"Yah!"

Both boys turned, easily recognizing Eric's scream. Without a second thought, they rushed over to the area where Eric had gone to search for clues.

Nigel arrived first, not that Matt was surprised, but he did find it strange when the redhead's laughter broke through the otherwise silent air of the field.

When Matt broke through the wall of weeds, he saw why Nigel was laughing so hard and found that it was extremely difficult to keep from grinning himself.

Eric was in the air again, at least ten feet above their heads, but this time wasn't floating. Instead, he seemed to have grabbed onto a tree branch and was hanging off of it, hugging the bough by his arms and legs tightly. Matt couldn't help but compare the scene to a cat who'd been frightened into a tree.

Nigel seemed to get the same picture. "What's the matter, Eric, did the big bad, mean old doggy scare you into a tree?"

"Shut up Ashcroft!" Eric yelled down at him, glaring at the redhead. As soon as he looked down, however, his eyes became wide and he closed them, his face turning nearly as white as his shirt.

"Aw, c'mon, Lyndon…"

"Nige." Matt shot him a look and Nigel quieted. "You okay, Eric?" he called up gently.

The boy shook his head tersely. "Th-there was some kinda snake, it surprised me and… I-I don't think I can get down!"

"Don't worry, we'll _get_ you down, okay?"

"How?" Eric asked, making a point of not opening his eyes. Nigel looked at the tree he'd managed to clamp onto and had to admit the question was a good one—it was a pine tree, and a miracle that a branch had grown only ten feet off the ground. Most of the trees surrounding it had their first twigs at the twenty-foot mark.

Matt, however, had a plan. "Just trust me, okay man? You trust me?"

Eric hesitated, then nodded carefully.

"Good." Matt reached for the feeling hidden just behind his eyes, smiled as it spread, and began assessing the whole situation in terms of the now illuminated forces around the boy. On the ground far below him was a red shadow, the force of gravity pulling down on him, pretty strongly if brightness was any gauge. Bright green streamers of light twirled around Eric's hands and legs, the normal force, the only thing keeping him from falling the rest of way to Earth.

Hoping he knew what he was doing, Matt used his left hand and plucked the green force from around his wrist. It felt smooth and gentle, but amazingly solid, softer than the supplest cotton and smoother than the best silk. It was as if he'd found the kind of magic needed to take hold of moving air, to grasp a breeze in his fist.

He only took a moment to stare at it in wonder before releasing the ribbon, willing it towards Eric and helping it with a flick of his wrist. Sure enough, the thin banner of light shifted underneath the boy, attaching to a point on his stomach Matt guessed was his center of gravity and the very middle of the gravity shadow.

"Matt?" Eric asked. "What're you doing?"

Nigel looked at his friend, obvious wondering the same thing. "I put up a kind of safety net," Matt explained. "You think you can get yourself down?"

"Are you _insane_?" Eric demanded shrilly. "I can't get myself down! I have to be 100 feet off the ground!"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it's only ten."

Matt rolled his eyes, "Not helping, Nige. C'mon, Eric, you got yourself up there alone, that means you must still have some kind of power. Just use it and see if you can get down gently."

"I don't know if you remember this, but I don't have the best reputation with landings!"

"He's got a point."

"Nigel Ashcroft, if you don't hush up I will _gag_ you with your shoelaces." Nigel closed his mouth. "Eric, you said you trusted me. Neither Nige nor I have powered up and he can run at 40 miles an hour and I can see every effect gravity and normal forces have on everything around us. That means you have some remnant of power in you too, and judging by how far you just leapt, I'm gonna say it's jumping really high. I can catch you if you lose control, but I'm not getting you down."

Eric whimpered. "Why not?" he asked.

Matt shook his head. "Your powers, dude. You have to learn how to control them, even if you don't ever plan on using them again. What if you take off in the middle of class and can't get down? Then what?"

"Then I enter the witness protection program and am never heard from again."

"Eric. Let go of the branch and_ try._"

The black-haired boy swallowed. "O-okay. Here I go." Eric screwed his eyes closed even tighter, but not in fear, in concentration. He vaguely remembered the feeling of pure weightlessness from the night before, the feeling of having his own gravity in the very center of his chest, right behind his heart, the spot the rest of his molecules seemed to orbit around like planets around a star or galaxies around a quasar.

As he thought of the memory, the sensation returned, everything but the skin of his limbs loosing feeling. His very bones seemed to disappear, replaced by helium, ready to lift him if he'd just forego the strength that kept him tethered to the treelimb.

Matt seemed to notice the difference in him. "C'mon, Eric, just relax and let go. You're doing fine. You're good."

Eric licked his lips and slowly pried his arms from around the wood.

Instead of the sudden, gut-wrenching fall he'd expected, however, only a _slight_ tug came on his feet, like when his mother pulled gently on his feet to get him out of bed years ago.. Eric's heart skipped a beat, but, remembering Matt's words from the night before, he took a breath and calmed himself.

"Dude! Awesome!"

"Nigel, _shush!_"

Eric opened his eyes and blinked in surprise, seeing a proudly grinning Matt much less than 10 feet below him, and an awe-struck Nigel beside him. He looked down, his eyes nearly falling out of his head, as his feet slowly and gently touched the soft grass.

The sensation disappeared as soon as they did, and he nearly collapsed into himself, still getting used to the feeling of solid support within him once more.

"Did… I just do that?" he asked, face white.

"Good job man," Matt said encouragingly, clapping a hand on his back. "By the way, don't lie to me ever again, okay?"

"Lie?" Nigel repeated, confused. "About what?"

Eric's pale face suddenly turned cherry red. "I'm, um… pretty afraid of heights."

Nigel blinked at him, face blank. "So… you can _fly_… but you're afraid of heights?" Eric nodded glumly. No matter how hard the redhead tried, he couldn't hold back a grin.

Eric saw it and glowered at him. "It's nothing to be laughing at, Ashcroft! I fell off of an observatory when I was five and nearly broke my neck rolling down the mountain it was on!"

Nigel's grin faded immediately. "No, no, I'm not laughing, I swear!" he promised holding his hands up. "Look man, I'm sorry. It's just ironic and my stupid brain sees humor in everything. Phobias aren't funny, I know that."

Eric narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What exactly are _you_ afraid of?" he demanded.

"He doesn't like needles and has an irrational fear of fireflies." Nigel and Eric both turned to gape at Matt. "What? It's true."

"You said you'd never tell anyone!" Nigel exclaimed, a betrayed, but also amused, look on his face.

"Oh, like you weren't about to say it," Matt said, smirking.

"Fireflies?" Eric repeated, incredulous.

Nigel nodded unashamedly. "Yup. I ate one whole when I was really little and had nightmares about a whole swarm of them flying out of my mouth and my inside glowing through my skin for months."

"He still does, sometimes," Matt added with a bright grin.

"Okay, _that_ was personal and didn't need to be said!" Nigel glared at his friend before turning back to Eric. "Seems to me like you just faced yours anyway," he added, jerking his head to the branch he'd just descended from.

"A little, I guess."

_BOOM_.

All three boys swore darkly as thunder clapped above their heads. Almost immediately, rain began pouring down from the dark grey heavens, fat drops that smacked noisily into the creek, the mud, and their heads.

"!)amn it, the one day I forget my jacket!" Nigel yelled as they sought shelter in the forest surrounding the field. He shook his head, letting the water droplets fall onto Eric and Matt, who quickly made their displeasure known with matching punches to his shoulders.

"Well, now what?" Eric asked, looking at the dripping rain. "Any evidence we missed is gonna get washed out in the rain."

"And it's not as if we can practice while this is coming down on us," Nigel added. "My parents don't expect me home until like five and I am _not_ walking two miles in the pouring rain."

Eric snorted. "Like you would actually _walk_." Nigel glared but didn't deny it.

Matt looked thoughtfully at the rain, toying with the jewel around his neck. Without thinking about it, his eyes hummed as the forces came into view, each raindrop exploding into green streams, and then sparks once they hit the now solidly-red ground.

He put a hand out into the rain, feeling each drop land solidly on his palm, but surprisingly, not seeing he green or red lights on himself. "Weird," he commented.

"What?" Nigel asked, curious.

"I can see the normal and gravitational forces on the raindrops and the ground… but not on my hand." He turned it, letting the drops fall onto the back of his hand. "I guess I can't affect the forces acting on _me…_"

A spark of an idea lit up Matt's bright blue eyes. "Uh oh," Nigel said, stepping back.

"What?" Eric asked, suddenly nervous.

"I know that look in Matt's eye," he replied. "And I think we should run."

Eric frowned. "Why? What does it mean?"

"He's got a crazy idea and he's going to try it out no matter what we do… even if it gets us hurt or killed." Nigel took a few steps back. "_He_ was the way I broke my first bone."

Matt stepped back and stretched his arms, cracking his fingers backwards with a grin. He made two fists in the middle of the rain and pulled them into the cover of the forest area.

Nigel and Eric gasped as, for less than a second, a million bright green ribbons of light appeared in his closed fists, disappearing just as quickly as they'd arrived. Nothing seemed to have changed otherwise, but when a smiling Matt stepped forward into the rain, he grinned even wider than he had before.

Though the drops were coming down from above him, they never seemed to actually _hit_ Matt, passing harmlessly through the bone-dry boy and splattering on the ground below him. He looked at his astonished friends and laughed.

"I can't believe that worked!"

Eric spluttered for a moment before finding the right words. "Dude! Y-you just made…"

"The rain, intangible!" Matt nodded eagerly. "You can barely feel it! Come on!"

Nigel looked from the gaping Eric to the grinning Matt and shrugged. "Eh. What the #ell," he said, and jumped into the untouchable rain.

Eric watched the two best friends laughing at the feeling of the rain passing straight through their skin, Nigel eventually beginning to dance underneath the clapping lightning and crashing thunder. Matt laughed openly at his horrible dance moves, then nearly fell over as a clod of mud splattered across Nigel's shirt.

Nigel turned, shocked, and saw Eric holding up another clump of the muck, a smirk across his face.

"Bring it, flyboy!" Nigel screamed, ducking to dodge the flying soil and scooping up his own mound. Matt yelped as it landed smack-dab on his face with a satisfying _squelch. _Glaring through the brown muck, he picked up his own handful and pelted Nigel directly between the eyes.

Eric doubled over laughing as the redhead wiped the grime out of his eyes. He glared at the two boys and shrieked over the pelting rain.

"WAR!"

* * *

**I love having mudfights. My sisters, a couple friends, and I used to battle each other out on the shores of the lake in the next county... I think my oldest little sister's shoe is still in that mudbank...**

**~Tibki**


	21. Chapter 21: Giants

**Hey y'all, as they say 'round my parts.**

**Here's today's chapter. WARNING: the below contains my attempt at humor. If you do not think you can handle it, please skip this chapter. XP**

**DISCLAIMER: _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ has been added onto my list of not-owning.**

* * *

_Meanwhile:_

All her life, she'd been fascinated by the giants that walked the same earth she did.

Her friends and family had often warned and eventually scolded her for going to close to feet that would stomp, hands that would grab, and mouths that would swallow, but she couldn't keep away. The curiosity that bothered most of her race had settled permanently in the very base of her stomach, uninterruptingly affecting ever decision she'd made in her lifetime.

Her father, grandfather, and grandmother had warned her of what happened if she sated that curiosity. It was a death wish to their kind, they'd said. An inner neck-breaking trap to a mouse, a piece of sticky paper to a fly, something that kept their numbers down when so little else could.

Most of her people saw the destruction of those who indulged in the characteristic as an unfortunate, but necessary tragedy. They believed the level of curiosity in each member was due to their family, and the ending of the line stopped any chance of further grief, or in the worst case scenario that was always brought up, capture and torture, further down the line.

Her mother, however, had died shortly after giving birth to her only daughter and any possibility of a second branch of the bloodline was finished at her funeral. So her father and grandparents had made sure that she would survive and warned her again and again about the dangers of watching the giants.

She'd ignored them, however, and continuously gone away from the tiny settlement to observe the daily lives and habits of the massive creatures and write down their every move into a small journal made of leaf fiber.

Her routine had been set for years. Sneak out of the house at dawn, return by breakfast when the sun was one-sixth of the way through its path*****. After doing whatever work her elders wanted her to do, which usually took until the 1/4th mark******, she snuck out once more, only returning for a short time when the sun was highest for lunch. At sunset, she'd come home and crawl into bed, smiling at having pulled one over her older relatives.

It _had_ been set for years. Now, she no longer needed to sneak around. Every morning, after fixing her own breakfast, she went through the deserted settlement with a blank look on her face and the tiny book in her hands. After an all-too-silent path through the forest, she would reach the same field she always arrived at and watch, waiting for anything to happen. Rarely did she open the notebook. Rarely did anything happen but the sun eventually set.

When it did, she would return to her home, looking at the unlit homes, and crawl into her bed to allow herself a single tear for the entire day, before falling asleep.

Today was supposed to be no different, even though she couldn't see the sun. She was supposed to sit on the very edges of the forest and watch the empty field, one eye constantly on where the sun would be as it set directly opposite to her, then go home and sleep just to wake the next day to do the same.

For some reason, though, today _was_ different. It had started with the sound of laughter—a sound she hadn't heard in so long, it took her a moment to realize just what it was.

It was laughter, all right—not any laugh she recognized, but it belonged to _someone_. Someone who was even having fun.

The old curiosity that had all but died months ago rekindled and she flew up the nearest tree, perching on a nearby branch to look down at the entire field.

Something big had happened last night. She wouldn't've have noticed—her father had told her she would've slept through an earthquake—but a large, dirt-brown crater had been kicked up in the very center of the field. Part of her grieved for the lives lost that had previously occupied that area, the plants and animals and insects, but a larger part was too shocked to care.

For in the very center of the crater were three giants.

She fumbled with the pencil eternally behind her ear and flipped the notebook open to the first empty page to sketch the scene. Three giants, one male and two female, if her previous studies were correct, were walking around inside the crater. For the first time in a long time, she wished that she hadn't left her colored inks at home, so she could accurately sketch the differences between the three of them. She'd have to log it in memory.

The small male—were all giant males smaller than females?—had crazy black hair, and the multi-toned skin of his species. A white chest, pink arms, and blue legs, and black feet. His eyes were the same color blue as the sky should've been high above their heads and shone with laughter that he was letting escape a pink mouth surrounded by dark freckles.

To his right was the smaller of the two females—this one with neat, flaming red hair. She seemed more colorful than her masculine companion, with a bright purple chest, dark green legs, and white feet. Her eyes were a similar green to her own top, made especially out of carefully woven blades of grass, but were darkened with a scowl that she was displaying to the male.

_Maybe the females "dress up" to attract males, and that particular boy didn't impress this particular girl,_ she wrote in the margins. "Or maybe she doesn't like his sense of humor," she muttered in addition. The male said something to the female and suddenly, her fist flew into the male's shoulder.

She winced. _Females become vicious easily, especially if the male doesn't get the hint._

Past the two arguing and laughing giants was the third, the largest female. She was by far the most colorful, with a nice rich purple covering both her chest and arms and a clean white over her legs and feet. Her hair was darker black than even the male's and framed her face wonderfully. Her eyes were the kind of blue the likes of which she had never witnessed before; dark at the inner edges and almost as light as the white at the outer edges.

She frowned. _Male must be very stupid,_ she wrote,_ to continue after a noncooperative, violent mate rather than the more handsome, benign choice._

She did seem more benign than the one with red hair. Instead of a punch, she only seemed to be torn between laughing at or breaking up the fight. Finally, she stepped forward between the two of them, separating the warrior female from the jokester male.

She watched, a silent spy, as the trio spoke to each other for a short while before splitting into two groups. _Females have cast male out of group for some reason. Could it be they spend time separated by gender and only meet to mate?_ The male only seemed to be looking around the creek that ran through the field, so, after logging that, she turned back to the pair of females.

The prettier female had pulled out some sort of square device and was standing it at the very center of the crater, pointing it towards the violent one, who was kneeling in the dirt. The spy's eyes widened—she'd heard about the boxes giants made to kill each other from an adventure her aunt had told her about years ago.

_Prettier female now holding device—_here she drew a quick rendering of the object—_at violent one. Maybe she didn't want to seem violent in front of male?_

The pretty one shouted something at the violent one, who began running around the edges of the crater—_very_ quickly, even for a giant. After a few circles, the violent female came down to the center of the circle to look at the back of the device that her friend was showing her.

The two of them began conversing for a moment, and, unable to hear them, she looked at the pretty female and decided on calling her Pot, after a giant word an old friend of hers had told her. It meant a jar of some sort, usually meant to hold a plant and very often colored extensively. It seemed to fit her.

They had pots as well, but they were only meant to hold food or drink, never _plantlife_. And if anyone told her it was a ridiculous name—_who_ would tell her?—she'd relay what her friend had said afterwards, that giants named their animals ridiculous things as well.

The violent one, however, she was thinking to name Thelma. Her grandfather, who had insisted she learn the old languages, had told her it meant 'will'. Her will had to be strong, to be able to keep insisting against the male. Whenever she'd heard of giants, the females were always passive. Thelma was not.

As for the male…. She hummed and tapped her chin with the end of her pencil. He was pining for a mate who obviously didn't want him and refused to go after the one who would fit him so much better.

Her grandmother's lessons on literature came flooding back to her. Demetrius. The lover in _Midsummer Night's Dream_ who spurned one girl who he eventually fell in love with, even if through magic.

"YAH!"

She jumped almost a foot at the scream coming from the creek, and noted the surprised reactions of Pot and Thelma as well. It had to be Demetrius, she figured, as there were no other giants in the field and she could see the worried expressions on the two females all the way from her perch.

Thelma ran ahead, easily overtaking Pot, who seemed to be trying her best but was still lagging behind. _Perhaps Demetrius prefers Thelma because of her athletics, not her looks._

She leapt from her spot on her branch, crossing the canopy in seconds to reach the creek where Demetrius had been sent. But Demetrius was no longer at the creek—instead, he seemed to be attached to the bottom of another branch.

She couldn't help it—she giggled. _Demetrius seems to find himself in tough and humorous situations often._

Thelma called up to Demetrius, only to be silenced by Pot. Pot was much more gentle as she spoke to him, and she was even able to catch a few words. 'Down' and 'trust'. _Pot seems to be leader of group_, she noted, _caring for other members and keeping them from harming each other… or themselves._ _She must be trying to get Demetrius down from the tree._ She leaned in closer. She'd heard of giant intellect, how they used things around them to their own need and usually achieved it. Maybe she would create a ladder of the trees of a rope from the grass?

Pot touched her bare wrist and threw the air from it underneath Demetrius.

She frowned. That was neither ingenious nor resourceful. That was… what _was_ that?

Pot called up to Demetrius once more, and a small conversation erupted between the three of them. Pot ended all arguments with a fairly long monologue towards her friend in the tree, and Demetrius nodded his head—a signal she understood meant 'yes'—before carefully taking his arms from around the limb.

She winced, waiting for the scream and _thump_ of the male falling. Giants were unable to keep gravity off their large bodies and sometimes even _broke_ themselves if the fall was great enough.

However, the sickening thump didn't come. Curious again, she opened her eyes and felt her mouth grow slack before furiously scribbling in her book.

_Demetrius seems to be displaying the amazing ability to slow his fall and land exactly on his feet. I've seen cats turn themselves in mid-air to land on their pads, but never literally _slow_ their descent like he is doing. No giant I have seen or heard of has shown this ability._

She closed the book and stared as Thelma cheered for Demetrius when he landed. Pot slapped his back several times in what she assumed was a congratulatory gesture, speaking to him in low tones and with a large grin. Thelma said something as well, to which Demetrius replied.

In a swift reversal of roles, Thelma was the one grinning and Demetrius scowling. Their scout frowned—_they don't seem to have set personalities_—as Demetrius shouted at Thelma, who quickly lost her humorous look. Instead, she replied with a perfectly serious face and raised hands, showing him she was unarmed. Strange, was he that threatening to her?

Demetrius narrowed his eyes and replied, only for both of them to look at Pot in surprise when she spoke. A brief argument broke out between she and Thelma, laced with the grins of two close friends, before Demetrius spoke again and Thelma… explained, she guessed.

_Giants are surprisingly vocal and seem to have a wide degree of patterns and sounds that translate to speech._

Just as she finished the sentence, lightning flowered across the grey sky as thunder _boom_ed. She yelped and slammed her book closed—even the tiniest droplet of water would smudge the charcoal-pencil marks inside.

The giants were running for cover underneath the canopy. Though she was reluctant to open the book again, she couldn't pass up on a chance to get as close to giants as she would be able to while they were on her territory.

Tucking the tiny tome into her belt, she jumped off her branch once more and made her way silently into a bush just behind the trio.

A tiny conversation had passed that she missed, but she caught the last ends Thelma had added as Pot placed her hand out into the pouring ran, the water dribbling off of her skin and onto the ground.

"…was the way I broke my first bone." Thelma stepped back a few feet, seemingly to shield herself from whatever Pot was attempting. Her feet moved backwards as well to hide from the errant giant while her torso moved forward in curiosity.

Pot closed her eyes and smiled, reaching out her hands and making several _pop_ping noises with the bones that made her shudder. She hated sounds from inside the body. After cracking her fingers, Pot swept her hands across the ran, pulling them in as fists.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes—did she just see what she thought she just saw? All those streamers… It had to be a trick of the light, she realized, and decided to ignore it.

However, the shock returned as Pot leapt out into the rain… and stayed as dry as she had been underneath the pines.

The pencil rolled from her fingers. Giants were _definitely_ not supposed to be able to do _that_! She'd never even _heard_ of _that_ before!

Except maybe once… But no. Her grandmother only told her fiction stories, made up by the great giant authors like Shakespeare and Voltaire. That particular legend was just a legend.

Demetrius seemed similarly astonished. "Wha-bu- … Dude! Y-you just made…!"

"The rain intangible!" Pot agreed with a massive grin. She nearly fainted. "You can barely feel it! C'mon!"

Thelma looked from her astonished male friend to her happy female friend and shrugged. "Eh. What the #ell." The giantess leapt into the rain and hollered in joy as the water dripped straight through her head.

The two girls began dancing in the middle of the downpour—well, Thelma danced and Pot laughed. If she hadn't been frozen stiff in shock, she would've made a note about possible rain dances, but she couldn't move her fingers.

Suddenly, a smear of brown mud appeared on Thelma's purple chest. The females turned and saw Demetrius holding another handful of the stuff, grinning opening as the rain poured through him.

"Bring it, flyboy!" Thelma screeched as he threw it, picking up his own clod and pelting Pot in the face. Pot scowled at her friend and scooped up her own handful, beaning Thelma between the eyes. Demetrius found this hilarious and laughed as Thelma glared at both of them and got two more handfuls of gunk.

"WAR!" she shrieked, throwing both clods and diving for more.

Pot and Demetrius screamed as both projectiles hit them and went for more ammo. The entire field broke into chaos, the thunder and lightning often joining in to the screams, shouts, and swears of the trio of giants as they fought with harmless mud, their teeth sparkly white in grins and laughter.

She stared at the group openly, not moving as they continued with their battle.

* * *

**So Pot (Matt) ****and Thelma (Nigel) are girls and Demetrius (Eric) is vying for Thelma/Nigel's attention while ignoring the much prettier Pot/Matt. XD**

**Who do you think 'she' is? What role does she play in this story? Find out tomorrow, on _Earth Day: Chapter 22_!**

***One-sixth of the way across the sky. Sun takes 12 hours to cross (6AM rise, 6PM set), so 1/6 of 12=2 hours. Time=8AM**

****One-fourth of the way across the sky. Sun takes 12 hours to cross (6AM rise, 6PM set) so 1/4 of 12=3 hours. Time=9AM.**

**~Tibki**


	22. Chapter 22: Abnormality

**Hey everybody! How's your lives? Wait, don't tell me, I don't wanna be a creeper.**

**Here's chapter 22. Hope you guys liked the last chapter, because there's a couple important things in there.**

**Time to add to my disclaimer list. These things are hereby DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H., _The Legend of Zorro_, The legend of St. George, The_ Pirates of the Caribbean_ series, and the _Star Wars_ franchise and series.**

* * *

"Oh man, that was epic. We should do that every day." Nigel sighed contentedly as he squeezed mud from his hair, which was now colored more like wet red clay rather than a fire truck.

"Yes, because your mom would _love_ to clean muddy clothes every day," Eric replied, his voice heavy with sarcasm as he attempted to wipe the brown gunk off his once-white shirt. "Me, on the other hand, I have to do my _own_ laundry."

"Ah, don't be a sissy," Nigel smirked at the boy, who scowled in reply. "It _was_ fun, though, right?"

Eric nodded, almost reluctantly. As much as he hated to admit it, Nigel was right. But if he thought that he, or Matt for that matter, would let it go to his head like Eric had a feeling it would, the redhead had another thought coming.

The Mud War of the Heather Field had ended less than five minutes ago, when Matt had called temporary truce between the three of them, saying that he had to replace the normal forces in the rain or else he'd collapse soon. It wasn't the same, throwing mud at each other while the rain splattered into their vision and made the clods drip out of their grips, so they had made the temporary truce permanent… until the next time, that is.

No winner had been officially declared, though when Nigel had started boasting that it was him, Matt had gotten him from nearly 20 feet away, directly between the eyes, in a headshot worthy of an army sniper. Nigel had shut up after that, and unofficially, Matt was declared winner, even though he stayed adamant that there wasn't one.

Matt was currently leaning against a tree, breathing a little more deeply than normal, bark and dirt sticking to the mud he hadn't bothered wiping off. Eric could see that he was a bit pale and heard the ever-present voice of his mother in the back of his head, scolding him for not watching his friend and making sure he was okay. Removing normal forces from countless drops of water was apparently more strenuous than any of them would've thought.

"You okay, dude?" he asked. Matt looked up and smiled.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Shouldn't've pushed it too hard, though, magic while human is _not_ easy."

Both Eric and Nigel quieted at Matt's words, giving him strange looks. "Magic?" Eric repeated. "What do you mean, 'magic'? How do you know it's magic?"

Matt frowned in thought for a moment, confusion marking his eyes, before he shrugged. "What else would you call it?" he asked in reply. "Nigel's running, your flight… my being able to change natural forces."

Nigel was frowning for a different reason. "You said magic is hard while human, right?" Matt nodded. "As opposed to…?"

A tense silence grew between the three boys. Matt blinked in shock. Nigel was _right_, how would _he_ know how difficult magic was while human, compared to… whatever else? He'd never been anything other than human… at least, that he remembered.

He wasn't letting the others know, but the missing day he had at the very beginning of the weekend was freaking him out more than it should have. It freaked him out plenty, that was for sure, but something deep inside of him was really and truly worried about what had happened during those blank 24 hours. He wasn't sure why, but some kind of sense of responsibility at the very back of his mind was screaming at him to figure out what exactly had happened, to him, to the boys, to his powers…

_Powers?_ Nothing happened to his powers… except they appeared, of course. But something other than that…

The feeling disappeared the moment Nigel spoke up once more. "Matt? You okay?"

"Huh?" Matt looked up. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. It's…strange, though."

"You remember being something other than human?" Eric asked sarcastically, smirking.

Matt shook his head. "No. That's part of what's strange… part of me says I _should_ remember being… _more_ than human, but the only time that would be possible is that missing 24 hours, and… it doesn't feel that brief, you know?" Nigel and Eric stared at him. "I told you it was weird."

"Yeah…" Nigel trailed off, but quickly smiled at his friend. "Well, we've got bigger fish to fry right now."

"Like what?" Eric demanded, looking at the redhead as if he were insane… which he was becoming more and more sure was actually true. "Matt has some kind of feeling he wasn't even _human_ at some point of his life! What could be bigger than that?"

Nigel pointed to Matt, more specifically, at Matt's sternum, where the small charm dangled, free of any blemish despite the amount of mud surrounding it. "If his, and our, powers are weaker while we're normal, maybe they're stronger when we're powered up!"

Eric groaned and gently thumped his forehead with his fist. "Nige, your so-called 'powering-up' isn't as important as…"

"Actually," Matt spoke up, "I think it is." His friends looked at him. "Guys, think about it. In every comic book, every TV series, every superhero movie known to man, the hero believes he was given his powers for a _reason_, so he could _save_ people from evil. What if this is our superhero movie? What if _we_ were given _these _powers for a reason, a reason so important they gave superhuman abilities to a bunch of kids? What if it's _our_ job to save someone, and we're busy trying to figure out what some stupid déjà vu in the back of my head is, while they're hurting and dying?" Nigel and Eric looked away, thoughtful. "What happened to me in the past doesn't matter. What, what happened to _all_ of us yesterday _barely_ matters. The _reason_ we're able to do what we can do is what matters, and we can't be unprepared for whatever's coming."

His friends glanced at each other once, before nodding together. "You're right," Nigel admitted. "But one question. Who're _they_?"

Matt bit his lip, unstringing the pendant from his neck. "Whoever sent us _this_," he said, holding it up, "wants us to save _someone_. And for that someone's sake, I say we at least do it once."

Nigel burst into a grin and nodded. "Definitely," he said. "I'm up for it."

Matt turned to the most reluctant of their group. "Eric?"

Eric looked at the small, green and blue cube hanging from Matt's hand, his mind flashing back to the heart-stopping panic he'd felt the night before, when he'd taken off into thin air, the rush of adrenaline that had speeded his thoughts and his flight, and especially to the shattering height he'd so quickly found himself at.

He _really_ didn't want to try that again. It was too much like the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, the one he'd toppled from and hit the hard, volcanic rock so _many_ feet below…

Another memory replaced the sheer fear of a five-year-old falling to what should have been his death—the welcome, warm feeling of his friends as they congratulated him on his descent from the branch half an hour ago. He'd been afraid that if anyone had found out about his acrophobia, they'd simply laugh it off, but Matt hadn't, and Nigel… had eventually grown serious about it. He'd even told him about the fairly embarrassing fear he had, just to make it even.

_They helped me through my fear then,_ he thought, looking at the pair of boys waiting patiently for his answer. Well, patiently in Matt's case. _Who's to say they won't help me through the whole thing?_

Eric swallowed and nodded. "O-okay… but can you guys make sure I don't get struck by lightning?"

Nigel burst into a brilliant grin. "We'll do our best!"

Despite the fact that the rain was coming down pretty hard, the trio found themselves in the middle of the crater the pendant had left the night before. At least it was still a little warm, enough for them not to worry about catching colds, and the rain was washing out a little more of the mud on their clothes and hair. However, visibility wasn't great, and they had to squint just to be able to see each other.

"You guys ready?" Matt asked, holding the pendant towards the center of the group.

Eric nodded, face a little pale, and Nigel cocked his head curiously. "How're you gonna get it to work?" he wondered.

Matt looked at the tiny charm. "Same way I did before," he replied.

Without any warning, he tossed the necklace high into the air. "Heart!" he shouted.

The necklace stopped high in midair, spinning on its axis. In less than a second, three rays of light, bright red, grey, and neon green exploded from three of the points as blue sparks fizzled from the silver attachment to the string on top.

Nigel laughed as the red ray flew behind him and into him, covering and hiding him from sight. Eric winced as a dark grey curtain came down on him, and Matt only had a half a second to see the last beam flying towards him before everything turned green.

Within seconds, it was over. In the place of the three soaking wet and grimy boys that had been standing in the crater was a trio of clean, uniformed men. The unrelenting rain suddenly stopped its barrage, giving them a moment of dryness that, though none of them would admit it, was probably brought on by their transformation.

"Whooo!" Nigel said, impressed, as the charm fell down back into Matt's hands. "That was flashy. You do birthday parties?"

Matt didn't look at him and flipped him the bird.

"I've gotta admit, this is pretty comfortable," Eric said, looking down at the clothes that had replaced the ones he'd put on this morning. "And we're _clean_."

Nigel shook his head. "_That's_ what you're focusing on? That we're _clean_? Urgh, you need help, my friend."

Eric glared at him. "Hey, I'm just glad both feet are still on the ground."

The soft _hiss_ of a blade being unsheathed broke up the argument and turned their heads towards Matt, who had pulled out the sword from his back. It was a curved blade, bright gold in color and with a piece of black obsidian sitting on the end of the hilt. Even without the sun, which was still hiding behind the cloud cover above them, a streak of white light gleamed across the deadly edge as he lifted it, gleaming over the razor-like tip.

Matt swung it in an arch, lower lip extended in appreciation as it sang softly while it sliced the air. He tossed it up and caught it by the flat of the blade, balancing it on his finger, before throwing it once more and catching it in his right hand, twisting to behead the nearest weed.

"Good resonance, good balance, good fit," he said, standing as the stalk fell to the ground. "I want the name of whoever made _this_ baby."

"Holy $hit," Nigel managed, staring at the blade so comfortably held in the boy's hand. "Dude, were you taking fencing lessons when we weren't looking?"

Matt frowned. "Fencing? No, fencing uses thin blades, like rapiers and sabers, this is a double-edged Bilbo with a hand-and-a-half hilt. Fencers can't _thrust_," he demonstrated a thrust to the side, barely piercing the skin of another plant, "this as well as they can the thinner ones. It's too heavy and has the weight distributed a little more to the tip of the blade. It's good for fights against more than one opponent, though, because it'll turn so well." He spun it around the hilt and inserted it cleanly into the sheath at his back. "Why?"

Nigel stared open-mouthed at his friend while Eric just blinked. "Because you're twirling the thing like one of the freaking color guard flags in the school band!" he squeaked. "What are you, a ninja? Saint George? William freaking Turner?"

"How'd you learn to do that?" Eric summed it up.

Matt did a double take. "U-uh…" an extremely confused look crossed his face. "I-I don't know. I just… did it."

Eric blew out a breath. "Man, there's a lot more than 24 hours missing from your memory. That kinda work'd need practice and a lot of it. Think about the _Zorro_ movie."

Matt smirked. "Well, I can assure you, I did not do any pushups across candles."

Nigel crossed his arms. "How well can you use that thing?" he asked, thrusting his jaw at the sword.

"I, I dunno. I don't think I'm a _knight_, but—"

Suddenly, the pendant around Matt's neck rose into the air before settling back on his chest. He looked down at it in surprise, fully aware that the others' gazes were also on it.

"Or… I guess I am." He looked at Eric and Nigel. "I guess… we _all_ are."

Eric looked pale once more while Nigel just grinned. "Sweet! Sir Nigel of Heatherfield it is, then!"

Matt shook his head. "No… not Heatherfield," he corrected himself at Nigel's slightly disappointed, slumped posture. "Bigger."

"The U.S.?" Eric suggested. Matt shook his head. "North America?"

"No…" Matt unstrung the necklace once more, holding it up. Now that he looked at it more closely, he could see vague shapes of the continents in the green splotches. He had to turn it to be sure, but after that, there was no mistaking it. The charm was tiny, cube-shaped map. "Earth."

"Knights of Earth?" Nigel repeated. "Nice, I like it."

"But then who's our king?" Eric asked, smirking and ribbing Nigel. "The President?" He chuckled.

"Not king," Matt said, still staring at the charm. "Princess…"

"Eeeeeeek!"

All three boys turned at the shrill scream coming from behind Nigel. He and Eric looked directly into the weeds, seeing absolutely nothing and began to look very confused.

But Matt, after glancing at the weeds, checked the ground and felt his jaw fall.

Lying in the soft ground of the crater was a small shape, dressed in almost exactly the same colors as the plants it had been hiding among. Two arms and two legs extended from the torso, giving it a humanesque figure, but way too tiny to be an actual human being. Though covered in mud, he could see the bright green top underneath the gunk and the duller green tights underneath it. Tiny shoes covered tiny feet and a small belt seemingly made of leaf fibers wound around it's waist.

"Oh… my… God." Matt strode forward and knelt in the dirt, hearing his friends gasp as they noticed the tiny figure.

"Are… are you okay?" he asked, leaning forward to get a better look.

The tiny person shook its head and sat up. "Yeah, yeah, I think so," it said in a slightly high, feminine voice. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. "Wow, I haven't fallen in ages… wait."

She looked up and gasped, scuttling backwards at the sight of the three giants. Her bright green eyes were wide with shock, her hair standing up in every direction and coated with guck.

"Uh, um, I…" She held up a hand. "I am the droid you are looking for!"

Nigel blinked down at her and grinned.

"You know what? I like her."

* * *

**I do too, you know. I'm not sure how well her character turned out... but that's next chapter, not this one.**

**Til next time, my good fellows and fellowettes.**

**~Tibki**


	23. Chapter 23: Al

**Hey guys.**

**Little bit of bad news. This is a shorty, and worse, it's probably not my best. I beg your forgiveness if this does not please you.**

**I have good news too, though! Well, good for you guys. The guy at the University my Dad works at screwed us over and is making him teach next week... so we had to cancel our vacation. However, this means that I will have more time to write and post, so it's not all bad. We're still pretty bummed about not being able to go to Florida or Virginia, though.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

"What _is_ it?" Eric asked, leaning in close. The tiny person backed away a little, before straightening her back and glaring up at him.

"'It'?" she repeated. "I'll have you know, I have breasts and therefore you should at the _very_ least address me as a female, if you're too high and mighty to learn my _name_."

Eric turned cherry red as Nigel howled in laughter. "I _really_ like her!" he claimed as Matt tried to hide a snort.

She smiled up at the redhead. "See? _She_ has manners."

Nigel's laughter abruptly ceased as Eric nearly began crying in hilarity. Matt couldn't hold it back and longer and started snickering. "Who're you calling a 'she'?" Nigel squeaked in protest. "I'm a guy!"

The tiny person blinked in surprise. "But I thought female giants had long hair and male giants had short. That means you and she are girls and he's a guy, right?"

Eric's laughter only doubled as Matt's face fell. "Uh, actually, we're all male," Matt explained, not commenting as Nigel pummeled the giggling Eric. "I'm Matt, he's Nigel, and the guy getting his butt kicked is Eric. What's your name?"

The girl straightened herself and brushed mud off of her tights before answering. "Name's Alvina Faily. Most people I knew just called me Al."

"Knew?" Nigel repeated. "As in, past tense? Why?"

Al narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Matt took over, not wanting to lose her trust so quickly. "Nige, cool your jets," he said calmly. "We don't need to know everything about her the moment we meet her." He turned back down to Al. "If you don't mind me asking, what species are you?"

Al looked up at Eric. "See? _He_ knows how to ask these things." She looked up at Matt. "I'm a Protector," she replied evenly, putting her hands on her hips.

Nigel frowned in confusion. "A Protector? Of what?"

"Not _just_ of what, of a _who_, too," Al explained with a snort. "I'm a Protector of Earth's Heart and Magic." Nigel and Eric stared at her blankly. "You know, a little like you guys?"

At Al's words, Matt's consciousness instantly took a backseat, as if he was some unsuspecting boy who'd just been shoved onto a rollercoaster and told to hold on. The world around him dimmed into a faded black field. A hundred little scenes flashed before his mind's eye—a little girl lying in a bed, Mr. Huggles being chased by a black cat, a woman with black hair standing in the middle of a circle of fire. Black feathers and a gold mask, a plastic wand and…

"Ah!" Matt yelped and fell backwards as a very clear, very frightening, picture of some kind of… _demon_ popped into his mind.

"Matt!"

Nigel and Eric were standing in front of him, eyes wide with surprise and worry. Matt felt his heart beating a painful tattoo against his sternum, an unexplained trace of fear coursing through his system. His breathing was deep and quick, as if he couldn't get enough oxygen, as if he was enclosed somewhere with nothing but a large golden mask…

Matt shook his head vigorously, pulling himself out of the terrifying thoughts. Slowly, his heart and breathing rates returned to normal, but not after a few tense minutes of forced calm.

Eventually, though, he looked at the staring group and flushed slightly. "Uh… sorry."

Eric began to stutter in reply. "N-No problem, man, I-I mean…"

"What happened?" both Nigel and Al asked, concerned. Matt found it slightly strange that someone they'd met literally two seconds ago would be so concerned about him, and apparently, Nigel saw it that way as well, because he gave her one of his patented 'what the #ell?' looks.

"I-I dunno." Matt put a hand to his head. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get the image of that terrifying demon out of his mind. At the very least, that golden mask always stayed in his thoughts. "I think… something triggered a couple memories."

"From Saturday?" Eric asked. Matt shook his head.

"I think from before," he replied. _But I have _no_ idea where I'd seen that demon before…_ He sat up straight and looked at Al. "The Earth's Heart and Magic? What're those?"

"Hey!" Nigel frowned at his friend. "If you think we're just gonna let this pass, dude, you've got another think…"

Matt stared him down with a pair of cold, level eyes. "You remember the talk we _just_ had, Nige?" he asked emotionlessly. "It doesn't matter." Nigel scowled and crossed his arms, but relented. "Al?"

Al looked between the scowling Nigel, the curious Matt, and the nervous Eric who was staring at Matt as if he'd keel over any minute now, and sighed. "Have a seat, boys, this is gonna take a while." Nigel and Eric looked at her before sitting down in the soil next to Matt. "The first thing you need to know is that there is more than one world in the universe…"

* * *

**And so ends Part II.**

**~Tibki**


	24. Chapter 24: Broken Soul Shattered Heart

**Hey guys!**

**Sorry this is late, but I had a full day today. Woke up extra early, did a grueling (but not as grueling as my sister's) drill at swim practice, ended up an hour late for a driver's ed driving hour (luckily made it just in time), and I still have a dentist appointment.**

**AND WE GOT A NEW KITTEN LAST NIGHT! His name is either Chip, Vark, Vivaldi, Amadeus (called Deus, my pick of the lot), or Stradivarius. Can you tell two of my sisters play violin? HE FUDGING ADORABLE AND SLEPT ON MY PILLOW LAST NIGHT AND BOTHERED ME AT 4 AM. He so cuuuute.**

**Sorry for the moment of craziness up there. Anyway, I think you'll enjoy this chapter and hate it at the same time, so HATE AND ENJOY!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**Part III:**

**Chapter Twenty-Four.**

Will was about to implode.

Not _ex_plode, no, exploding would mean that she would take her frustration and lack of patience out on another, poor, unfortunate soul that dared cross an angry Will Vandom's path. Instead, she would _im_plode, and save everyone else from a thorough tongue-lashing.

The entire day was turning out to be a waste. The weather really should have warned her to stay in bed; it was rarely this gloomy in Heatherfield, and when it was, it was a sure sign of dark forces at work. Sometimes literally, in her case. It was as if the city's atmosphere was one massive evil detection system.

But she'd forced herself to leave the house and brave the day, despite the forewarning set to her by Mother Nature. She should have listened to Mother.

The weighing pressure of her missing boyfriend was only added when she saw the worry-stricken expressions on Hay Lin and Taranee. Matt, at the very least, could handle himself now that he was a Regent, but Nigel and Eric had absolutely no magical defenses whatsoever. Matt would do his best to protect them, they knew, but if he was unable to for some reason, they were sitting ducks.

And Taranee and Hay Lin had looked up to Will. She had, of course, expected this, since she _was_ the leader of the Guardians, the Keeper of the Heart and al that jazz. But most importantly, she'd had experience in missing boyfriends. They were looking to her to see how they should react, for _advice_ in times like this, when honestly, Will was leaning on them and Irma and Cornelia just as much as they were on her.

She'd planned on comforting the girls once she arrived at school, to reassure them that everything would be alright, just as they had reassured her during the Shagon Saga. But Cornelia's announcement of the missing Heart had prevented her from doing so, as well as added that much more weight onto her shoulders.

That Heart had been one of the few connections she had left to Matt, one of her last chances. She'd hoped Napoleon would be able to track him down through the jewel, but without it, all those hopes were shattered.

Another cause for Will impending implosion: The Hales. Specifically, little Lillian Hale, who'd just discovered that she still held some of the power the Regents had borrowed. Napoleon had promised her that he'd teach her how to control those powers before she turned the entire planet completely upside down.

Will really liked Lillian, even though she wasn't great with little kids, and was happy she was getting the magical training she would definitely need, if at the very least in the future. However, she wasn't happy about the fact that Lillian's magic had apparently come from Matt, who, in all probability, needed it more right now than the girl did.

That had just increased the worry in her, Taranee's, and Hay Lin's eyes. Without his Shagon power, Matt was just a 15-year-old boy hiding big secrets and admittedly impressive skills with a blade. The boys had been taken by some mysterious Star Trek-wannabe and had no way of getting free or back, if those wannabes packed mystical might.

As well as Lillian, there was another situation with a once-ordinary citizen wearing down on Will's sanity. Peter Olsen, back from Zamballa only four days and invisible to an immense majority of the world, including his own father, had told the girls that finding out what happened to Matt and the boys took precedence over his own mystery and had forbidden them from trying to figure out why exactly only those tied into Hearts could see or hear him. He was planning on helping however he could, even if it was only a tiny bit, and getting his son back to him before revealing himself to the world in general.

Will could understand his position. If she was him and one of her friends was Matt, or even if it was just Matt as Matt, then she'd say the same. But at the same time, sympathy poured down from her heart to him. He'd just gotten his son back, just to lose him once more. He'd just returned to his home planet, to discover it no longer recognized him.

This alone should have been so much more than enough for the small redhead, but the fate wasn't done putting her mental stability through the wringer yet. Shortly after Cornelia's announcement, she'd grown woozy and fainted, much like she did if she was near a Meridianite escaped to Earth.

Unfortunately, she'd collapsed in the middle of the crowded hallway and had been taken to the school nurse, who, despite seeming like a witch in all other aspects, had absolutely no knowledge of magic and did not let her go until Will had called her mother and told her the story, begging to be kept at school.

If she went home, she wouldn't be able to talk to the girls until at least the end of the school day, and they knew from experience that sometimes these things had to happen _during_ classes.

Her mother, also not knowing of the delicate art of Guardian-ism, had pitched a fit and the conversation had ended in a shouting match that the entire office had been able to overhear.

Luckily, though, Will managed to convince her and found herself inside her classes, conversing silently with the others about the dizzy spell.

Will sighed and slammed her locked shut, hanging her head back as her feet automatically steered her towards her next period class. It was difficult being the leader of anything, much less a group of magical fairy warriors, and if anyone tried to contradict her she'd punch them in the nose.

That's how stressed out she was.

Normally, her friends would be able to calm her down, especially the level-headed ones of the group, Taranee and Cornelia. Taranee was smart and logical and would be able to pick Will out of a funk in minutes. Cornelia was constantly grounded (no pun intended) and would keep her from flying off the handle in seconds.

But Taranee was as stressed as Will over the boys, her own among the number missing. She'd almost sent the mental apology aloud, but she had to comfort Hay Lin instead of Will. Hay Lin's powers were more dangerous and connected to her emotions, and anything dealing with Eric had the tendency to set them off. Will understood, even from the simple glance.

Will was the leader, yes, but Taranee was the second-in-command in situations like these.

Tara would take the stress of calming Hay Lin off of her shoulders be bringing it upon her own. Neither of them blamed Hay Lin and the Chinese girl had made her gratitude more than known in a pair of massive hugs.

As for Cornelia, she was great, offering her calming support when she could, but Will could tell the Earth Guardian was extremely concerned for her little sister as well. A single moment of lost control at her elementary school and everything would explode like Will was trying so hard not to do.

What she needed was Matt.

Will's heart sank to her shoes at the mere thought of the ebony-haired gentleman she'd fallen so hard for. On the battlefield she'd gained a reputation as the very last Guardian to ever fall, win or lose, and Matt had axed her with his beautifully deep azure eyes and heartfelt, soft words within seconds.

Even Guardians stood no chance against love.

Matt was one of the very few who would be able to distress her during times like these. He pull her into a gentle, but strong, hug, one where she could feel every single muscle in his body closing around her in a protective shell. It was in his arms where she could let loose, where she could release the tears of frustration or of grief or of love that she otherwise held hidden, and never had to fear anyone saying anything. It was perfectly acceptable for a girl to cry into her boyfriend's chest.

Her fingers itched for the soft fabric of his signature purple sweater her entire body trembled to be held in that safe embrace. She wanted to be able to hide in his arms, if just for a moment, to hide from everything relying on her and the choices she would have to make, whether it be now or in the future.

Will shook her head, brushing a hair out of her eyes. She had to focus. She had to stay strong, for the others, for Mr. Olsen, for Lillian, for…

… _Matt?_

The millisecond the thought registered, Will spun on her heel, eyes frantically searching the hallways for the tousle of black hair and flash of blue eyes she'd just glimpsed.

A few steps away from her were the soft purple sweatshirt and long white cargoes, the black hair stuffed underneath the white and beige fisherman's cap. A heavy black backpack hung off one shoulder.

The rest of the hall faded into the ether. Will didn't see the crowds dispersing, the two boys who stood at his side, one a redhead and another also with charcoal-colored locks.

She didn't care. That was Matt. _That_ was _Matt!_

"Matt!"

The boy turned and sure enough, Will's feet tingled, losing all feeling as she stared into the endless depths of his cobalt eyes.

Those same senseless feet moved without her brain's permission, thrusting her forward. Her body nearly throttled his, her arms wrapping around his strong chest. She felt two strong arms encircle around her and felt as two tears fell from the corners of her eyes and dropped soundlessly onto the sweatshirt.

She was inside her castle once more, safe and harbored from any danger or mystery that could ever come her way. Will held him close, as if she was never going to let him go, and stretched onto her toes to press her lips against his.

After a solid minute, strong arms pulled Will away from the warm embrace and kiss. Will fought but was eventually pulled back.

It was Matt, all right, there was no mistaking him. The small nose and large mouth that so easily broke into a smile, the odd freckle on one side of his face. And those eyes…

Those eyes that were filled with a shocked confusion. Will noticed that it wasn't _her_ strong arms pulling her back, but four arms possessed by a pair of the other missing boys, Nigel and Eric, Taranee and Hay Lin's missing boys.

She was about to ask them _what_ in the name of all that was _good_ and _holy_ they thought they were _do_ing when Matt's voice cut into her thoughts, shattering the silent ecstasy she'd been enjoying just a second ago.

Her heart splintered, spider web cracks running across its surface at his words, lifeblood and broken love seeping through every fissure and overflowing the cavity that had once held the soul of the Keeper of the Heart.

"Uh… do I know you?"

* * *

**~Tibki**


	25. Chapter 25: The Other Second in Command

**Hey guys, I gotta make this quick, my Mom is due home any minute and she just about banned me from the computer unless I start reading something she brought me from the library ages ago.**

**DISCLAIMER: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**Twenty-Five. **Another Second in Command

_Two Hours Later:_

"_Are you guys sure?"_

"_Positive. I got it from Knickerbocker herself. She just… burst in, bawling her eyes out, saying she wanted to go home."_

"_Do you think she's okay?"_

"_What do you think happened?"_

"_Is it Guardian stuff or did everything just…?"_

All the same thoughts occupied all four girls' minds, laced and sated with worry over their fearless leader. Taranee had been running an errand for the teacher in the office when she'd "accidentally overheard" Knickerbocker's thoughts as she called Ms. Collins about Will. The redhead herself was there, she could sense her even if everything electrical _hadn't_ been going insane in the entire room, but she'd been blocking out all transmissions.

The girls had been conversing non-stop since then, even though each request towards Will had been met with a brick wall. Ms. Collins had come sometimes within the class period and picked her up.

"_Something happened in the hall,"_ Taranee thought to the others.

Cornelia agreed. _"Yeah, I mean, Will was mondo-stressed before, but she wasn't anywhere near a total breakdown, right?"_

"_Right!"_ Irma replied. _"But _what_ happened in there? It's not like there's cameras straight through the school. And even if there were, we're missing our Queen of Electronics."_

"_I'm really worried about her, guys,"_ Hay Lin put in. _"Remember what happened last time Matt got kidnapped? And this time Nigel and, and…"_

"_Hay Lin, calm down,"_ Cornelia told her gently. _"We'll get the boys back. I'm positive of it."_

Taranee sighed and mentally stepped back from the conversation. She slouched backwards in her chair, looking up to the ceiling, waiting for the Advanced Biology class to begin. Though she was a year younger than most of the students there, excepting Martin, she'd been put in the fast science track at a young age and was able to take a junior-level course in sophomore year.

Worried didn't begin to cover what she was feeling for Will. Full-blown concern, apprehension, anxiety and trepidation were closer. All five were closer to each other than any teenage girl could ever be to four other teenage girls, but Will was Taranee's best friend, and she knew the feeling was mutual. They'd been caught in the same boat from the beginning, newcomers to a strange school that felt important enough to be called an 'Institute' in Freshman year.

Taranee also knew, though she hated to admit it, that she was probably considered Will's second-in-command. There shouldn't have to be a second-in-command, not for Guardians and _especially_ not for a group of friends. Without the redheaded figurehead, a few more of the responsibilities fell on her shoulders than Irma, Cornelia, or Hay Lin's. Keeping Irma and Cornelia from tearing into each other was one.

But the reason she was considered second-in-command was because she knew Will best, and because of that, she knew the burdens of leadership and what to do with them, if not to the extent that the Quintessence Guardian did.

She _knew_ her. So what could've made Will break down like she did? Magical princes, snake, spider, slug, and just plain ugly monsters, traitorous ex-Guardians, and even boyfriend-possessing demons of malice had failed to break her, so what could've?

Taranee gently bit the inside of her cheek—a bad habit no one had ever noticed before—in thought. It _could've_ been Guardian stuff, but with everything going on lately, it could've also been Heart of Earth business. She couldn't forget that Will was still a teenage girl, however, so everything could've just piled up… but she doubted that particular case. Will was stronger than that.

"Mind if I take this seat?"

Taranee mindlessly waved to the person asking for the desk to her right. No one sat there, not anymore, since Nigel went missing. A stab of pain went through her heart at the mere thought of her fire-haired boyfriend, but she pushed it to the back of her mind to cry over later. Will had never cried in front of the girls and neither would she, not in the entire time she holds this very temporary position.

It had to be temporary. It _had_ to be.

"I like your braid," the person to her right said as Ms. Thompson stepped into the classroom. "The beads are cool."

Taranee blinked in surprise. Rarely did she hear a compliment on her hair—most people did double-takes at the admittedly original style, but few times did they mention the beads.

She cupped the small wooden, red and brown beads in her hand. "Um, thanks…"

Taranee turned and felt all the blood from her face drain outwards.

Shiny white teeth showed between a pair of thin lips she remembered kissing after school last Friday. Bright green eyes twinkled in happiness and… something else, seated directly on her own eyes and not moving an inch. Extremely red hair that rivaled even Will's locks fell into those brilliant emerald pools, brushed away with a hand she remembered caressing her cheek.

"…N-N-N-Nigel?" Taranee asked in an extremely high voice. Shock gripped her very core, turning her limbs and joints numb. Her mouth was hanging on useless tendons and ligaments, her shoulders had slumped and her eyes were enormous behind her glasses.

Nigel burst into a grin a thousand times more radiant than she'd ever seen. It was as if the Sun had sent a flare Earth's way and exploded into a bright shining of pure light and joy and life, except all of that celestial power was contained inside one formerly-missing bassist.

"You have me at a disadvantage. What's your name?" he asked in that musical voice of his…

Wait.

Taranee's train of thought halted so quickly it derailed, barrel-rolling crazily and ending up on its side. _He doesn't know my name?_ Her fingers and toes turned cold, despite the warm atmosphere of the math classroom. _He doesn't know my name. He doesn't _know_ my _name!

_He doesn't know who I am._

"T-Taranee," she replied quietly. She mentally gave herself a kick as her mind started running gears so quickly Irma would say she smelled smoke. Nigel was back, but he couldn't remember her, which meant he either got knocked over the head over the weekend or something else, more _magical_ had happened to him.

Collapsing in shock or breaking down and kissing him would not end well with an amnesiac, not matter how much she loved him.

She cleared her throat, years of lying automatically taking over. "Sorry, I'm Taranee," she explained, holding out her hand. "Taranee Cook. You're Nigel Ashcroft, right?"

Nigel nodded. "Yep! It's nice to meet you, Taranee. I have to ask, though, how you knew my name?"

Taranee grinned slightly too widely, running through scenarios. "Uh, the Battle of the Bands!" she offered. They'd made out just afterwards, so maybe this could help him remember something. "You were the bassist in Wreck 55. Awesome song."

Nigel's brow furrowed slightly and Taranee could see confusion deep within his bottle green eyes. Quickly, though, it disappeared, replaced by the same cheerful, still gaze from before.

"Yeah, that was me," he admitted. "Wasn't my song, though." Nigel turned in his chair. Taranee did too and got an enormous shock.

Sitting directly behind her was an all-too-familiar ebony-haired, cerulean-eyed teenage boy who'd been tapping a notebook mindlessly before Nigel had turned towards him. He looked up at Nigel and smiled warmly, then curiously at Taranee.

"This is my friend Matt," Nigel told her. "Matt, this is my new friend Taranee. He's the one who wrote 'Will to Love'."

"Great," Taranee replied, holding a grin on her face, even though a part of her wanted to pummel the Regent sitting in front of her. _Why hadn't he come to us the _moment_ he was in Heatherfield? I am going to _charbroil_ his little guitar playing…_ "They're awesome songs."

Matt smiled sheepishly, turning a bright red color. Taranee resisted the urge to glare at him.

"It'd be better if I had someone to sing it for," he admitted, still blushing.

_What?_

Nigel rolled his eyes. "You'll have to forgive him," he told her dryly. "Matt's a little lovesick today. He got tackled by some crazy chick in the middle of the hall three minutes ago."

"She's not crazy!" Taranee and Matt both protested. They traded surprised looks. "I-I mean…" A similar spark of confusion appeared in Matt's eyes as had been in Nigel's, sending fear straight through Taranee's body. "I don't think she's _crazy_… she just mistook me for someone else."

Nigel snorted. "She yelled _your name_, dude."

"Ahem." All three teenagers turned and saw Ms. Thompson sending pointed glares at them. "If I may begin class now?" she asked sardonically, earning giggles from the other students.

Nigel and Matt turned bright red, but Taranee's face stayed blank as she turned back to the board and at the very least pretended to pay attention to what the teacher was saying.

"_Guys? I think I know what happened…"_

* * *

**Just to warn you, it might be a while until I update again. Not 'two years' a while, but maybe a day or two.**

**But I will keep my promise. When Tibki swears she keeps her word, and I WILL FINISH THIS STORY!**

**~Tibki**


	26. Chapter 26: Lunch Tables

**Surprise!**

**I actually got a few moments yesterday to write this chapter. I'll try and write tomorrow's after posting, but again, no promises. My mom might get on my tail about test preparation and all that jazz. The only promise is the one I've repeated so often I will no longer type it... but it's still there. Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H., NCIS, Leverage, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears... out of curiosity, who _does_ own the fairy tales?**

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**-Twenty-Six: Lunch Tables-**

_Lunch: The Girls' Table_

"Are you _sure_?" Cornelia asked for the third time. "Are you absolutely _positive_, because if you aren't then he might try to send us, I dunno, some kind of ransom letter saying that something was holding them hostage or something."

"If they were _hostages_ then they wouldn't be at school," Irma reminded her. "Blackmail's more probable, in _my_ professional opinion."

"Professional opinion?" Cornelia repeated, incredulous. "The only reason you know that if from your dad and _NCIS!_"

Irma scowled. "Not _NCIS_!" she protested, then bit her lip. "… _Leverage_," she admitted.

"Guys!" The warring duo turned at Taranee's cry. "Stop fighting, this is getting us _nowhere_." She looked at the blonde. "Yes, Cornelia, I'm _positive_. If they were being blackmailed…" Irma gave a cry of victory as Cornelia blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "… then Matt would've tried to send us some kinda message, like he did with the Shagon Saga and '_The Demon in Me'_." Her face fell slightly. "Besides. I saw Nigel's face. He didn't recognize me at all."

Cornelia's anger at Irma dissipated as quickly as only it could, replaced by a sympathetic hand on Taranee's. "Maybe not," she said consolingly, "but he went _straight_ to you in class, right? I think some part of him, no matter how small, no matter how unnoticed, remembered who you are and drew him to you… and if not, that just means he _really_ thinks you're beautiful and is falling in love all over again."

Taranee smiled in gratitude as Irma gushed over the idea. "It's like every romance movie ever written in real life," she claimed. "It's so charmingly sweet I can feel my teeth rotting."

"Irma!" Cornelia hissed, glaring.

"Guys." All three heads turned as Hay Lin spoke up for the first time. Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes, and a single trail marked a path down her cheek and over her lip. The tiny saltwater droplet hung there, wobbling dangerously as she turned her head slightly to look them all in the eyes. "What happened to Eric?"

The other three girls immediately quieted at her question. "Maybe he got sick today," Irma suggested with a large, false grin. "Everybody gets sick in the rain, and maybe he was in it yesterday?"

"Then why hasn't he at least called?" Hay Lin asked. "You don't think he… forgot about me too?"

Taranee swallowed carefully. "If Mr. Olsen's right and Matt, Eric, and… Nigel were all taken to the same place, then…" Hay Lin closed her eyes and turned away.

"I can't believe I'm _forgettable_," she muttered, loud enough for the others to hear, but only barely. Concerned and awkward looks filled Cornelia and Taranee's faces, but only shock registered to Irma.

"What? Hay Hay, you're the least forgettable person on the face of this planet!" Irma protested, reaching for her best friend. Hay Lin, however, only pulled away.

"I've gotta go to the bathroom," she said, using the back of her hand to wipe away a few tears as the floodgates opened. The young Chinese girl stood, pushing her chair backwards and running for the door to the lunchroom.

"Hay Lin!" Irma said, standing as well to follow. Taranee came up behind the water Guardian and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll go talk to her," she offered softly. Irma nodded and sat back down. Taranee began following Hay Lin's footsteps, grateful for the chance to let her own, singular tear of confusion and betrayal fall.

Icy cold fingers of dread wrapped around Taranee's stomach as the door opened just as Hay Lin arrived. Not looking at her path, only trusting her feet and not the blurred vision her eyes offered, she ran straight into the person walking in the other direction.

Strong, but wiry, tanned arms encircled her before she could completely fall. Unpleasantly surprised, Hay Lin looked up to thank her rescuer and completely froze up, the muscles attached to her spine tensing as every one in her limbs all but disconnected to both the bones they moved and nerve fibers that controlled them.

Large, sky-blue eyes framed by a curly, soft, ebony hair blinked down at her. Below the button nose that was dusted by a set of freckles even darker than the tan was a pair of lips opened ever so slightly in surprise. Hay Lin stared at the boy's eyes, astonished, as confusion clouded their perfect clearness for mere milliseconds before they returned to their normal state.

"Sorry, my bad," Eric said, helping her to her feet again. He looked over her face and burst into concern. "Are you okay?"

Hay Lin nodded blankly.

"Oh, um, okay then." Eric blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, extending his other. "I'm Eric. What's your name?"

Hay Lin's breath caught as her heart skipped a beat, throbbing painfully and arythmically inside her chest. Tears sprang to her eyes and Hay Lin forced herself to look away from the boy she loved so deeply so he wouldn't catch her crying. Icy betrayal sank its way into her core, accompanied by similarly frigid dread.

"E-e-excuse…!"

Before she could finish, she'd pushed past him and was running down the halls. Taranee swore darkly under her breath and leapt into a sprint, following her broken-hearted friend past the shocked boy standing in the doorway.

Eric watched them run around the corner. "Was it something I said?" he wondered, surprised once more as two more girls blew past him at a speed rivaling most racecar drivers.

_Lunch: The Boys' Table_

Nigel shoveled another plastic forkful of cafeteria meatloaf into his mouth, his cheeks bulging at the amount of "food" inside of them. Matt shuddered in distaste at the sight of the "meal" alone, much less at his friend's eating habits. He wished Nige would get a girlfriend already—a tough one, that wouldn't tolerate him eating like a chipmunk saving for winter hibernation.

A short throb attacked his temples, but Matt only slightly tilted his head in reply and waited until it faded away. He'd grown used to the constant headaches he assumed were memories trying to escape their prison. He'd have time to worry about them sooner or later, after they'd finished their job with Al, so he'd just have to continue to ignore the part of him dying with curiosity.

"How can you _eat_ that stuff?" Matt asked, disgusted. Nigel shrugged in reply, bent over his plastic tray so it would catch any falling bits. "It belongs in a HAZMAT waste dump, not someone's stomach."

"'Sh edible," Nigel replied, his mouth full. Matt raised his eyebrows and he swallowed. "Dude. I've been moving non-stop since I got up this morning. That whole…" Nigel looked around suspiciously and lowered his voice while waving the fork in the air, "magical knights of our dimension thing must've made my metabolism as fast as my feet."

Matt pursed his lips and shook his head, as if absorbing the thought. "Fair enough," he declared, and scooped his share of the meatloaf onto his friend's plate. Nigel grinned in elation and dug in. "Your funeral."

"'If I die, I die sated and happy,'" he quoted in reply. "Robert Ashcroft."

"Are you quoting your dad about poisonous meatloaf?"

"Actually cigarettes, but you end up dead just the same." Nigel looked up and grinned, giving Matt a lovely view of the loaf-stained teeth inside his mouth. As the guitarist shuddered once more, his friend waved his plastic utensil in the air again, this time in welcome. "Yo, Eric! Grab a seat."

Matt smirked sympathetically as the boy sat down next to him with a horrified look on his face. "I know," he replied to his unspoken comment. "It's disgusting, but this is an extremely rare Nigel-is Ashcroft-ius in his natural habitat."

Nigel scowled and had the decency to use a napkin. "I wouldn't be this hungry if I wasn't in that rush earlier this weekend," he replied with a glare.

"Oh, it's _my_ fault you didn't far enough not to put caffeine in your system?"

"That was two days ago!" Eric said. "How could you _still_ be affected?"

Nigel shrugged. "I dunno. Just know I'm hungry. You gonna eat that?" he asked, pointing to the meatloaf on Eric's tray. Before he could answer, Matt picked up the tray and dropped the square brown lump onto a very happy redhead's plate.

Eric looked at him, shocked, but Matt just patted his shoulder. "I just saved your life, man. You're _welcome_." The boy's shocked face melted off as he looked back down onto the now-almost-empty tray. Matt frowned at the sullen and confused friend sitting next to him. "Hey, I'm sorry if you really wanted to eat it. It's not smart to do so, but still."

Eric shook his head. "It's not that, I…" He cleared his throat, glancing around carefully. "I ran into a girl."

Nigel grinned at the boy. "Congrats, dude. Lucky day for all three of us, eh? Matt gets some from a girl he doesn't know, I met a really nice girl in history, of all places, and you…"

"Shut up, Ashcroft." The phrase had become a sort of motto for Eric, especially in these situations. "No, I mean, literally ran into her. She was leaving the lunchroom and I guess she wasn't looking where she was going and I nearly knocked her down. She… looked like she'd been _crying_." Nigel and Matt quieted, exchanging looks. "She ran out after I told her my name and those three other girls ran after her."

Matt frowned, trying to place the group of girls he'd been talking about. Nigel put the pieces together first. "Wait, as in the same girls that were hanging around the chick that fainted this morning and planted one on Mattie after first period?" Eric nodded eagerly as Matt glared. "Taranee was part of that group—the girl I met in history," he explained for Eric's sake.

"Who was crying?" Matt wondered. "Which one?"

"It wasn't Taranee, was it?" Nigel asked, worried. "The black girl, glasses, nice beads in her hair?"

Eric shook his head. "No, she was the first one to run after her. It was the Asian girl, really, really long ponytails and green goggles? Know her?"

"Hay Lin." Matt replied, nodding. "Her family owns _The Silver Dragon_ Chinese restaurant on Main. Great sesame chicken. Was she okay?"

Eric shrugged. "I dunno."

"Her friend, the redhead, got checked out earlier," Nigel put in. "Maybe she was worried?"

Matt shook his head. "No." They looked at him in surprise, and he turned a shade of scarlet. "Well, think about it. Her other friends came _after_ her, which means something was said before. Plus…" Matt bit his lip. "I dunno, I don't understand it, but I just… _know_ it's not about the other girl."

Eric nodded slowly. "Maybe you're empathic," he suggested.

"Did you just call my best friend pathetic?" Nigel demanded with a scowl. Eric rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you go expand your vocabulary a little, genius?" he remarked. "There's this thing invented a couple hundred years ago called a _dictionary_. Use one." Nigel opened his mouth to shoot back, but was cut off. "An empath is someone who knows what others are feeling."

"Oh. I knew that."

Matt frowned, looking at the still-swinging doors. He stood, pushing back his chair and getting his friends' attention. "Empath or not, she's hurting. We should go check it out, see if she's okay."

Nigel glanced down at the pile of "food" on his plate. Eric stood immediately. "Definitely," he replied. "Let's go."

"I dunno," Nigel said, "I kinda wanna keep eating…" He motioned to the almost gelatinous glob on the plate below him. Matt and Eric grimaced as he forked up a piece, letting it drip through the prongs.

"Dude, meat should _never_ have the consistency of soup," Matt replied shortly.

Nigel shrugged. "I like to think of it as oatmeal."

"You can finish eating your porridge afterwards, Goldilocks," Eric told him, hooking a finger underneath his collar and dragging him out of his chair. "C'mon."


	27. Chapter 27: The Bathroom

**Here's todays chapter.**

**Sorry, gotta be quick. Dad on my back to dress up. Mom on my back to study. Me on my back to keep my promise. My back about to break.**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

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**-Twenty-Seven: The Bathroom-**

_The Girl's Room:_

"Hay Lin? Are you in here?" Taranee asked cautiously, peaking inside the east hall bathroom. No voice answered her, but the soft sobs echoing off the tiled walls responded to the question. She stepped inside, the soft clap of her shoes mixing with the other sounds. "Hay Lin?"

Only one of the pale blue stalls was closed, a bright green streak that arched across the area above the handle proclaiming 'occupied'. Taranee stepped forward to knock but was beaten to it.

"Go away, Taranee." Hay Lin's voice was quiet, the normally loud and excited tones dampened by the emotional crush of her love abandoning her. "I don't wanna talk right now."

Taranee shot the girl a sympathetic glance through the plastic door, sure that the feeling would echo through their mental link just as their words echoed off the walls. "You may not feel like talking," she replied gently, "but you should all the same." The girl in the stall sniffled. "C'mon, Hay Lin, just talk to me. You'll feel better, I promise."

Hay Lin didn't reply, so Taranee sighed and backed against the wall separating her stall and the next, sliding onto the floor. The fire Guardian mindlessly looked to the astonishingly clean tile beneath her and began tracing invisible circles along it, her finger rising and falling with the grout and tile.

Silence followed, broken only by Hay Lin's odd sniffles and the breathing of both girls as they took unspoken support from each other, both letting the other lean on their backs and cry into their shoulders without a single word or movement.

Taranee took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "A few months ago, Nigel and I went on a date," she said, shattering the silence with the softest of murmurs. She was sure that Hay Lin could pick it up, however. "It was… some sort of fancy party at the Heatherdome. Hundreds of people dressed in formal clothes showed up in limos and cars with chauffeurs. There was a, a dance floor in the very center, and a waltz he and I both knew came on."

Taranee rested her head against the plastic edging. "We went out into the middle of the floor and danced, and danced, and danced… and then, for some reason, the MC decided to put the spotlights on us and another couple.

"We found out why, fast. The other girl was in the _exact_ same dress as I was, and the MC had had a little too much to drink and decided to let the entire party know we had similar tastes.

"The other girl was _furious_." Taranee chuckled dryly. "She stormed right up to me and almost demanded I change clothes. I was too shocked to react, even when she told me she was wearing it so much better.

"Then, Nigel walked forward, in front of the entire crowd, and looked her directly in the eye and told her…

'_Look, lady, you may be pretty in that dress, but my Taranee is _unforgettable_. And not just because of the cloth, but because she's kind and sweet even when people who need summer school in Manners 101 come up and start telling her lies.'_

"It was one of the sweetest and most romantic things he'd ever done for me," Taranee added. "But the real thing happened after we left, when we were on my doorstep and when I asked him if he was being real about what he said. You know what he told me?" She took her silence as an urge to go on.

'_T'ree, I meant every word with every bit of my heart. I'll _never_ forget you or anything about you, ever. Love won't let me. Doesn't matter if someone knocks me over the head or whatever, a part of me is _always_ gonna love you more than I've loved anyone else on the entire planet. Love won't let me forget.'_

Taranee grew quiet for a moment after finishing her story, letting Hay Lin digest it as much as she was reliving the memories of the whisper-soft moonlight and the (unmentioned) kiss they'd had on that same porch.

"Even if Eric _didn't_ love you, not one person who's ever met Hay Lin will ever forget her," Taranee continued. "You leave an impression on people, let them know there's still sunshiny innocence left in a world that, to them, might seem dark and nasty. And Nigel was right—since Eric _does_ love you, and I know he does just by the way he looked at you last week, no matter who erased his memories or how, he still remembers you, somewhere deep down."

The bathroom faded into silence once more as she finished, giving the other girl a chance to reply how she would. After a moment of tension tangible enough to cut with a knife, Taranee spoke up once more. "Hay Lin?"

_Click_.

The semi-circle on the stall door switched to a red _unoccupied_ as a bleary-eyed Hay Lin stepped out of the stall and looked down at her friend with a slightly wet, wavering grin. She closed the door and slid down next to her, pulling her into a hug. Not the hard, fast, and strong types she was used to, brought on by a near overdose of ecstatic excitement, but a gentle hug filled with gratitude.

"Thanks, Tee," she said quietly as Taranee hugged back. "I know you're going through the same thing and everything, and…"

"Shush." Taranee smiled at her friend. "It's fine. We'll get the boys back and they'll remember everything about us in no time. Just you wait." Hay Lin nodded, her pigtails flying erratically.

"Taranee!" The two girls turned to see a breathless Cornelia standing in front of them, one hand on the wall and another on her knee. The door behind her slammed noisily, the echoes mixing with her gasps of air. "There you are! Irma, they're in here!"

"Finally!" Irma came inside, not tired at all and smirking. "We checked nearly every bathroom in the school. I've seen enough ugly tile to do me the rest of my life." She gently patted Cornelia's back. "You're fine, babe, good job."

Cornelia stood and glared at the brunette before softening and kneeling next to Hay Lin. "Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, if you want, I can beat him up for ya," Irma cracked, falling next to her now blushing friend. "By the time I'm done, the people who look like him'll cringe at the sight of a water bottle."

"Irma!" Cornelia snapped.

"What? Someone did it to Justin Bieber."

Hay Lin giggled and looked around the circle of friends surrounding her. "Don't beat him up," she told Irma. "He still loves me, somewhere deep inside. We just have to work on getting that side out, right?" she asked, with a pointed look towards Taranee.

Taranee smiled, but the upturned lips fell when Cornelia spoke up. "I'm glad you're okay, Hay, but also deep inside are the memories where he saw Matt transform into Regent mode."

All three girls winced at the reminder. Irma, however, scoffed quickly. "So? Your boyfriend and Will's boyfriend know about the Guardians. Them seeing Matt's Shaggy shape might be a sign. Love means no secrets and no secrets means they should know about the Guardians and Regents… now that they can handle it."

"So does that mean we should tell Martin?" Hay Lin asked with a smirk. "He loves you enough."

"But he wouldn't be able to handle it," she reminded her. "He'd faint _before_ the transformation was done."

"Good point."

"Thank you, I've been working on it."

"Dude, are you freaking insane, Knickerbocker's gonna go _homicidal_ when she finds us…" All four heads turned in surprise at the voices coming from the other side of the bathroom door.

"_If_ she finds us, man, _if_," someone corrected. "'Sides, some things are more important…"

"Hay Lin?"

A head of windblown ebony hair peaked around the wall of the bathroom. Eric had his eyes squeezed shut and was staying most behind the inner brick, as if he were afraid someone would catch him out in the open.

Hay Lin's mouth fell along with her friends'. A boy in a girl's bathroom was basically grounds for expulsion on Knickerbocker's terms, and Eric was risking a whole heck of a lot for a girl he didn't even remember.

"Hay Lin, I saw you coming in here and I wanted so say I'm sor—oof!"

The small Chinese girl literally flew into him, earning warning hisses from her friends. Luckily, Eric's eyes were closed tightly and he didn't even see her display of magical prowess. "Are you nuts?" Hay Lin squealed, nonetheless grinning happily. "Walking into this place is good enough to get you kicked outta here!"

Eric kept his eyes closed. "Uh, yeah, I know, Nige told me…"

"Nigel?" Taranee asked, climbing to her feet.

"Hey, Taranee!" Nigel's voice yelled from outside the bathroom door. "You mind getting crazy-boy out of there for us?"

"Us?" Irma repeated curiously.

"Matt Olsen's here too, you guys know Matt, right?"

The girls shared a look. "We're acquainted," Cornelia replied coolly as the other giggled.

Hay Lin smiled up at the boy she still loved. Taranee was right, they just had to find the part of the boys that still loved the girls as much as they loved them. It would take a little digging, and a lot of explaining after it was done, but it was possible and that was all she needed to know. And until then, she could fall back into love with him, a chance few others got.

"Let's… get you outta here before Knickerbocker comes," Hay Lin said, steering Eric towards the door.

"Yeah… thanks," he said, blushing. "Look, I'm, um, sorry about…"

Hay Lin cut him off, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek, quickly turning him the color of an over-cooked lobster. She smiled, remembering the times she'd kissed him before.

"No apology needed," she replied. "You're really sweet, risking your high school enrollment for me."

Eric smiled shyly as the five of them came out of the restroom. "Well, every beautiful girl needs a knight, right?"

Matt and Nigel groaned as one, facepalming and not noticing the surprised and confused stares of the girls.

* * *

**Sorry, bad joke. Hope you liked it.**

**~Tibki**


	28. Chapter 28: Will to Love

**Hey guys.**

**Here's today's chapter.**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Twenty-Eight: Will To Love-**

"_Do I know you?"_

Will barely remembered asking the office to take her home, only vaguely recalled her breakdown that was timed by fate so that her mother was at the door when she collapsed, and didn't recollect the ride back to her apartment or how she shunned her mother from her room, at all.

"_Do I know you?"_

All she knew was that someone had gotten her into her room, where she could fall into her bed in complete privacy, shivering into the collection of pillows and frog-shaped stuffed animals lying on her bed. No more tears fell—she'd run out somewhere between the office and home, dry sobs replaced the wet gasps for air. Will had never had many tears to begin with, but very rarely did she exhaust them like she did here.

"_Do I know you?"_

Her numb arms encircled one of the bigger pillows, holding it so tightly that the soft filling was retreating from her grip, overstuffing the ends and leaving almost nothing but flimsy cloth in her embrace. Will's entire body shook, shock setting into her small, lithe frame.

"_Do I know you?"_

Matt's caring love and gentle understanding, the one thing that kept her going through the weights of the worlds when barely anyone understood her burden, the immeasurable amount of affection and warmth she knew he held for her, seemingly infinite and wide as the expanses of space and time, able to cross the lines between good and evil, demon and angel, of life and death itself, had disappeared, shot into oblivion within the space of a single weekend.

"_Do I know you?"_

Without Matt's love, the weights on her shoulders tripled, sending the small redhead into an intense struggle underneath, barely able to keep them afloat when all she wanted was to drown in her own shock-filled tears.

"_Do I know you?"_

It was too much. Mr. Olsen, cooped inside a house he owned but was not seen in; Hay Lin and Taranee, looking to her with worry and love for their missing lovers written in the tears in their eyes; Napoleon looking to her for information on Matt's location when he himself had said the boy's magic had disappeared; Lillian's horrified face when they'd told her her only human Regent had been kidnapped; the way her mother had gained a third line underneath her eyes just from coming to the school.

"_Do I know you?"_

It was too much. Knowing that billions of people and other beings, entire worlds, counted on her to protect them from evil's clawed clutched; knowing that however many lives they saved, there were still people ending up as torn as she was, lying on floors or on beds and sobbing their mutilated hearts out to the world they inhabited.

"_Do I know you?"_

It was too much. Matt's magic, just gone into the ether, fertilizing the growing amount of concern and love-sick worry for the boy Napoleon said might not have survived the extraction.

"_Do I know you?"_

It was too much. Will's heart, while strong, couldn't handle it all.

"_Do I know you?"_

It was too much…"

"_Do I know you?"_

Will looked up and blindly reached for the cup sitting on the edge of her bed. It tipped over, sending it's contents spilling onto the spread; pencils, pens, a ruler, rubber erasers, both square and caps, and…

"_Do I know you?"_

She gripped the rubber handle in sweaty hands, opening the silver maw wide and moving the shining edge down towards the unmarred skin on her wrist.

"_Do I know you?"_

The metal glinted, as if in sadistic anticipation for the soft flesh it was heading towards and the blood it would coax from it.

"_Do I know you?"_

Will closed her eyes.

"_Do I know you…"_

"_WILL!"_

Will's eyes flew open at the sound of her name. The world was blurred, as if someone had taken freshly picked cotton and created a veil and spread it across her eyes. Hands wrenched the blades from her grip, throwing it and sending it to clatter noisily against a wall.

"_Don't you give up on me, Will,"_ the voice continued as those hands took hold of her shoulders.

"Matt…?" she asked, blind to the space around her.

"_Will!"_ More voices joined the original as footsteps charged on the hardwood floors of her bedroom. Thin arms wrapped around her shoulders and soon an innumerable amount of limbs joined them in a massive embrace Will knew she would only receive from four certain friends of hers.

"Guys…"

"_Hush."_ Slowly, the cotton veil was lifted and, just as the lifting of the old Veil had brought the five of them closer and clearer in their relationships as Guardians, made the room and the girls around her slide into focus. Cornelia was speaking, her blonde head on top of hers, gently stroking her cherry hair. _"It's okay, Will."_

"No, it's…"

A hand pressed against the bottom of her jaw, closing her mouth. "Normally I don't agree with her, but right now Corny's got a point, Willie," Irma told her gently.

"But he…"

"He still loves you," Hay Lin spoke up, at the bottom of the five-girl dogpile, her arms around Will and squeezing hard. "He'll never stop loving you. Some part of him always will, no matter how much it's buried underneath whatever happened."

"But he…"

Taranee came into her field of vision, tears falling from the corners of her chocolate eyes. "He _needs_ you, Will," she told her, wiping Will's tears from her face and ignoring the ones falling down her own cheeks. "He needs you to help him."

Will sniffled. "Help with what?" she asked tearfully.

"Help him find his Will to Love."

* * *

**Written listening to "Airplanes" by B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams. All rights to whoever owns 'em.**

**~Tibki**


	29. Chapter 29: Hot Cocoa

**Hey guys!**

**Whoo, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to post today. I finished one of the books for summer reading last night (my Mom forced it on me, stole my computer and everything-it was a HORRIBLE book with a half-decent ending) and I started another this morning (MUCH better, couldn't really put it down). Then I decided, eh, what the #ell, and wrote out the entire plot for future reference. THEN I started on today's chapter. :)**

**Not much in here, but I think you'll like the next one. It had some explanations. :D But this one also has that touchy-feely stuff, so you should like this too. XP**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Twenty-Nine: Hot Cocoa-**

Will sat in her chair in the apartment's kitchenette, both hands cupped around a large mug of steaming hot cocoa. It was a nice mug—one she'd made in first grade, with 'WILLIE' written in shaky purple paint on an otherwise frog-green background. The liquid inside's warmth spread through the ceramic, reaching her palms and gently soothing her even though she hadn't swallowed a drop.

Taranee was at the stove, making more cups for the others. The slightly broken heater had been no problem for the fire Guardian—_it_ wasn't a Japanese brand, and all that was needed was a small fireball to ignite the gas. The others sat patiently around the table, their eyes staying on Will, exuding gentleness and caring as only the gazes of closest friends could.

She didn't know how many of them had seen the scissors in her hands an hour ago—at the very least, she knew Taranee had, but Hay Lin, Cornelia, or Irma? She wasn't sure. However, she did know that what she'd nearly done had been would've been a major, irreversible mistake over something that small in the eyes of the universe.

Will was chiding herself heavily for it already; if she'd gone through with it, she would've given up on her friends and family that were only there to help her through the stress of her life, given up on Matt, on the memory of him she held even if he didn't.

Taranee came to the table, setting an array of mismatched cups and mugs in front of the other girls and sitting down with one herself. The hum of the stove had stopped and the oily scent of the gas was slowly fading as its cause dissipated into the apartment.

The four others watched Will patiently, silently, waiting for her. Will took the moment of silence to thank whatever deity was watching that had smiled on her so much and given her these fantastic after the fiasco of Fadden Hills. Never before had she seen such a group filled to the brim with encouragement and support even in the darkest of times. That had to be at least one of the reasons they were chosen to be Guardians, because they were so close and ready to catch whichever one of them fell, because together they'd be able to stand amongst worlds burning and blooming.

Will savored the feeling of pure acceptance for a moment before shakily asking, "So… where's my mom?"

"We met her on the way up," Hay Lin replied with a careful smile. "Apparently someone named Robert From The Office called and she had to run to work. She really didn't want to go, but that Robert From The Office came and dragged her away. He was kind of a jerk…"

Will chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, she's always complaining about him. Says he doesn't know the first thing about software." The room fell into silence once more. Will gently touched the surface of the hot chocolate, twirling it in circles and mixing the froth floating on the top of the liquid. "How'd… How'd you guys know…?"

Irma pointed towards Taranee. Will turned and the girl sighed, taking a sip and wiping her mouth before answering. "We've been trying to get past the mental wall you put up since we got word that you'd been checked out. I don't know what happened, but it just collapsed next time I tried, and when we got wind of those emotions you were feeling, we got over here as fast as we possibly could."

Will glanced at the cat-shaped wall clock next to the refrigerator and inwardly winced— once again, the Guardians were skipping school. It was a wonder Ms. Vandom hadn't gotten on their hides about it. Robert From The Office must've been in deep $hit.

She sighed and looked once more at the collection of open faces around her. "Look, guys, I'm sor—!"

Before she could even finish, she was enveloped in another crushing four-person hug. "It's okay, babe," Irma told her, unshed tears in her eyes. "Just promise _never_ to scare us like that _ever ever again_. If the situation were any different, Corny and I'd be ripping you a new one, you know that."

Will smiled. She did know that.

Hay Lin nodded with a wet smile. "If everything gets to be too much, _talk_ to us. Cornelia'll keep your head on straight, Taranee can pick out what the most logical choice is in the craziest situations, and Irma's a _Pisces_. She's _meant_ to be a sounding board."

"Even if her speakers are on too often for you to get a sentence in edgewise," Cornelia added with a wise nod. Irma scowled.

"And Hay Lin can cheer a person out of a funk they've had for _years_ within minutes," the water Guardian continued, turning away from the blonde. "We're a team. We take on the stress _together_, just like we take on Lurdons or Cedric or Phobert together."

Taranee agreed. "Don't let it bottle up, Will. Part of the reason there's five Guardians is because just one would collapse under the weight. Let it out or you will too, okay?"

Will smiled. "Yeah, you guys are right. I'm sorry, I just… I dunno. It wasn't horrible at first, but when Matt…" She cleared her throat and forced the arising tears downward, shunning the still present sentence inside her mind away. "After _that_, I guess it was too much."

"It would be for anyone," Irma agreed. "But we're not any_one_. We're any_five._"

Will, Hay Lin, and Taranee giggled as Cornelia groaned in exasperation. "Your jokes get worse and worse by the minute," the blonde told the brunette. Irma only shrugged, choosing not to mention that, once refusing to smile even a little, Will was now grinning.

"You guys are right," she said with that same grin. "I won't let the stress build from now on, okay?" The four girls nodded with triumphant and glad smiles. "However, I _will_ kick Matt's butt hard enough to send him to Zamballa when I see him again."

The smiles on the girls' faces quickly disappeared, replaced by a nervous wince that looks almost identical on the otherwise unsimilar faces. Will's stomach dropped—that look never meant anything good on a Guardian.

"Guys…?"

"Uh, Will?" Cornelia spoke up. "That might not be such a hot idea…"

"Why not?" she asked in a worried tone.

"Well… Irma?"

"Don't throw this on me! Hey Hay?"

"Uh uh, Irmie. I _hate_ giving news like that!"

"Oh for God's sake!" Taranee knelt in front of Will's chair and met her eyes directly. "Will. All three boys are back in Sheffeild." Surprise and elation crossed Will's mind before she continued.

"They can't remember us at all."

The cup Will had been holding clattered onto the table, thankfully not shattering but spilling sticky, scalding cocoa all over the plastic tabletop. The others scooted their chairs backwards to prevent any of it from hitting their laps, but Will was too shocked to care as it steadily dripped onto her shoes and (brand-new) white socks.

"_What?"_

* * *

**Written listening to 'Streetcorner Symphony', 'Someday', 'Little Wonders', 'Ever the Same', 'This is How a Heart Breaks', and 'Mockingbird', all by Rob Thomas, and 'Down' by Jay Sean ft. Lil' Wayne, and 'Let It Rock' by Kevin Rudolf ft. Lil' Wayne.**

**YouTube suggestions FTW.**

**_~Tibki_**


	30. Chapter 30: Bourbon

**Hey!**

**Gotta do this quick. Dad looking over my shoulder.**

**DISCLAIMER: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Thirty: Bourbon-**

To the north of the sparkling metropolis known as Heatherfield lay an equally sparkling body of water known as Lake Heatherfield. In the summer, its beaches were filled with fun-seeking tourists hoping to catch the sun while sinking their toes into the pristine white sand and sipping tiny, icy drinks.

During the winter, when the water froze solid for almost a whole ten feet down and all the way across, people flocked to the shores for ice-skating or a ride across the ice on the horse-drawn sleighs that the taxi company rented out once it was safe.

But during the spring and fall, Lake Heatherfield was mostly abandoned, left for those loyal patrons who ran along its sands every day to stay in shape. That is, until early last fall when, for reasons no one understood and fewer decided to find out, a section of the beach was cut off from sight with plywood sheets. Construction equipment poured into and out of the area through a pair of gates guarded by two men wearing caps and sunglasses.

Eventually, the wooden slats were taken down, but instead of the beach house or taco stand most expected, the area that had been closed off for months was the exact same as it had been when construction had started; not a grain of sand out of place.

People were nervous about coming near the place for a few weeks, but sooner or later they gathered their confidence and the construction work was all but forgotten.

However, hundreds of feet below the sand that the people walked on, inside an underwater cave that almost none knew existed, was the building the contractors had been paid _heavily_ to create and keep secret.

Deep inside the belly of the great construct was a large room, an office of a sort. A massive mahogany desk sat in front of a glass pane revealing the sea life around the walls. Two chairs sat in front of that desk, and a conference table in front of those. A small, well-stocked wet bar was imbedded in the wall to the right.

Takeda sat inside the comfortable leather chair behind his mahogany desk, his elbows on the wood and his fingertips pressed together almost as tightly as his lips, which were a simple white line across his face at the pressure he was putting on them.

He was not a patient man. It was one of his biggest flaws, and oft pointed out by those who loved and those who hated him. The amount of time his project was taking was immense, far too much for his liking. Every second he spent at work was a second that he could have been spending with his daughters, a second that his Mariko had to endure in…

The door to the office opened and a small, dark-colored head came out from the hall behind it. Simmons, the secretary, carefully stepped inside, recognizing the bad mood his boss was in in less time than it took him to write a phone message. There were times Simmons thought he knew Mr. Takeda better than Mr. Takeda's own family, and it was for that reason that the small African-American man pitied his Japanese superior.

"Sir?" he asked hesitantly. "There's news from the lab."

Takeda's eyes, black as the furthest pits in the immeasurable cave they were situated inside and twice as cold, flickered to the trusted underling. "And?" he asked quietly, his voice ringing in the otherwise silent office.

Simmons swallowed. "Naiade has received the energy you acquired."

A spark of hope, of fatherly protection and caution to not relay joy too soon, exploded in those empty eyes, giving the man life for just a moment. Simmons liked Mr. Takeda when he was alive in the eyes—his grandmother had a saying, that no matter how much scientists could say differently, you weren't _really_ alive until you had a soul.

"Is it enough?" Takeda demanded, his hands on the surface of his desk in preparation to stand and rush to the lab faster than most Olympic sprinters.

Simmons hated giving out bad news. "It… doesn't seem to be. I'm sorry, Mr. Takeda."

The spark of life spluttered and died within Takeda's eyes, leaving the empty shell of the man he once was. He relaxed himself, turning away from the secretary. After a moment, he spoke.

"It is not your fault, Simmons, though I appreciate your concern." Simmons bowed his head. "Is there any indication of how much more is needed?" The man shook his head. Takeda sighed and carefully pushed his chair back, standing and brushing the wrinkles out of his pristine white suit.

Takeda walked to the wet bar and selected a glass decanter of amber liquid and two crystal shot glasses. "Simmons, do you like bourbon?"

"A little, sir."

Mr. Takeda nodded, not facing his secretary. He poured a little of the liquid into each glass and handed one of them to his secretary. "I have two kinds of bourbon here," he continued, gently twisting the liquor inside the glass. "The kind we are drinking now is Heaven Hill's. They age it for ten years before putting it on market. A good $75 a bottle."

Simmons glanced down at the shining brown liquid he was holding. That was a lot of money for a secretary. "And the other, sir?"

Takeda inhaled through his nose, smelling the alcohol. He closed his eyes before answering. "The crystal decanter on the highest shelf," he explained. "It's a special kind of bourbon. The decanter was sealed shortly after it was filled with aged bourbon, to maintain the perfection of the drink. The crystal itself was found among Napoleon's personal collection of Bordeaux. The bourbon is dated to when the emperor was a young child in military school. I paid a _fortune_ for it.

"I originally meant to open it during my daughters' graduations, marriages, and births of their children, re-sealing it every time. But now its purpose has changed. There is only one celebration I shall open it for now.

"Mariko's return to us," he finished, swallowing the entire glass in one mouthful.

Simmons stared openly at the beautiful decanter high on the shelf. A bottle of history, as his father would have called it, a silent witness to the bloodiest wars and the longest peacetimes known to history. "If I may ask, sir," he interjected, "why are you telling me this?"

Takeda sighed. "Oh, I don't know, Simmons. Possibly because a small part of me feels that, long after I am gone, that decanter will remain unopened and its contents unsipped. A small part of me believes that I will never hold my daughter in my arms again."

Simmons bit his lip and placed the glass carefully on the desk before stepping forward. "It may not be my place, sir," he said, standing directly behind him, "I _do_ believe that you will do everything possible to get Mariko back. I'm not sure if Naiade is the way to do it, but I've worked with you for several years, sir, and I know that you will not let this go until your goals are met."

Takeda smiled softly at the man's loyalty. It was such a rare characteristic lately, and he was fortunate to have someone so full of it. "Tell the men to do another sweep of the city," he said, putting his glass down as well. "Naiade needs more energy to find Mariko, we shall give it to her."

Simmons bit his lip once more. "Sir, we're running out of…"

"I don't care _how_ many Protectors she has to devour, I will get her that number if it kills me."

* * *

**So that's why Al is the only Protector in her settlement. But who and what is Naiade? And where is Mariko?**

**Written listening to 'Just A Dream' by Nelly, 'Only Girl in the World' by Rihanna, 'Dirty Bit' by the Black Eyed Peas, 'E.T.' by Katy Perry ft. Kanye West, 'Airplanes' by B.o.B. ft. Hayley Williams, and 'Grenade' by Bruno Mars.**

_**~Tibki**_


	31. Chapter 31: A Book and A Vision

**Hey guys!**

**This ones a long one! :D So I'm not going to waste more of your time. Enjoy this. Please.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**Thirty-One.**

A few hours after the four girls had up and run from them, the three boys who made up the Knights of Earth found themselves walking to Matt's house after the final bell. Nigel and Eric were concerned about Taranee and Hay Lin, respectively, as the two girls had shared a short, extremely worried look just before bolting from the lunchroom, Cornelia and Irma close on their heels. They hadn't said a word in farewell or given an excuse; they just left the school and blew off the rest of their classes for the day.

Matt, however, was thinking about different matters, specifically matters that were closely entwined with the small Protector sitting on his shoulder.

Al had explained that, just "two seasons" ago, the heather field they'd met in had been almost literally hopping with the amount of Protectors running around it. Over 200 of the tiny beings had inhabited the miniature settlement she still lived in, each one holding a small amount of the conserved magic concentrated in the area.

Then, a "few moons" back, Protectors began going missing. It started with a single, young boy who wasn't even supposed to be out beyond the borders of the settlement. His death was blamed on exposure and whatever lay out in the forest.

But soon, more and more Protectors started going missing, by twos or threes even. Funerals were becoming an everyday occurrence when they once happened about every half-century or so. Protectors didn't have children that often, so the population began taking a sharp dive.

Finally, Al was the last one left. Her family and friends had all disappeared, leaving no note or trace, and rather just a singular, lonely young Protector. And since the Protector's magic came from the earth around them and was split amongst the number of them around, all of the magic in the heather field went straight to Al. It wasn't a lot, since the size of the field had dwindled drastically in the last few centuries, but she could fly if she wanted to, a power given only to those Protectors granted, in their small eyes, extreme amounts of magic.

So while Nigel and Eric worried over the two girls they seemed already smitten with, Matt talked with the Protector on his shoulder.

"So you have absolutely no idea what might've happened to them?" he asked, frowning.

Al shook her head. "It's normal for us to go out into the heather field daily, you know, tend to the garden that gives us life, but everyone _always_ came back safe and sound… until everyone started disappearing, that is," she added. "Few things in the wilderness can just make a Protector disappear. And few of those _want_ to, because _they_, unlike some _giants_, know that without Protectors, a land dies. If the land dies, they die."

Matt raised an eyebrow at the tiny redhead. "You do know that lumping all us humans into one, environment-destroying bunch is stereotypical, right?"

Al shrugged uncaringly. "You don't _have_ to take it personally," she told him, leaning back on his shoulder.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, was anything strange going on while your friends were disappearing?" Al shook her head. "Maybe a new face, something big in the heather field at night…?"

"Wait!" Al leapt from his shoulder, floating in front of his face in a sparkle of the blue-green dust that allowed her to fly. The three boys stopped in their tracks. "I remember! Three weeks before everyone started disappearing, a giant came into the heather field."

Nigel, pulled from his thoughts about Taranee over this new, frowned. "But I thought you said giants came to the field a lot," he said, confused. "What was special about this one?"

Al shook her head. "He wasn't just a giant," she explained, "he was a _human_ giant. I've _never_ seen a giant that size before. He was so massive I even drew him in my notebook." She reached into the wide belt around her waist and pulled out the small bound-leaf tome. Matt held out his hand and Al carefully put it on his palm, flipping to the right page.

Matt frowned and held the book closer to his eye, squinting to look at the tiny drawing. "It's too small," he said finally. "I've got a magnifying glass in my desk at home, we can use that."

"Then let's go," Eric said, nodding.

_Olsen House_

Mr. Olsen fixed himself a cup of coffee in the abandoned kitchen on autopilot, pouring the black liquid and mixing in the French Vanilla creamer and sugar. Normally, he drank his solid black right out of the pot, but sugar helped him think and he needed to think.

He'd told the girls and the wonderful old ladies known as Yan and Mira Lin that he didn't want them to focus on curing him of his current state until they had Matt back to normal… well, as 'normal' as Matt was lately. He'd spent the first 10 years of his son's life abroad, being possibly the worst father a non-violent man could be, missing every one of Matt's major accomplishments like his first word or steps, and almost his entire childhood to boot.

The last five years he'd also missed, but those five years were spent wishing he was back with the happy, small black-haired boy that was his son and the beautiful blonde woman he called his wife. The first ten, as much as he hated to admit it, he hadn't thought twice about his family except when he proudly displayed their pictures in his wallet, otherwise too concerned about his work and career. But without the figures and people clamoring for his attention to distract him, he found that he deeply missed the three people who made his family, who _should've_ made his entire world.

Mr. Olsen had promised, on his third day on Zamballa, that if he ever returned to Earth, he'd always and forever put his family before himself and his work. He hadn't intended it to happen so quickly, but if there was one thing Peter Olsen was, it was a man of his word.

Matt came first. End of story.

_Speak of the Devil,_ he thought as a familiar trio of boys came through the front door of the house a few feet away. Nigel laughed cheerfully as he punched Eric in the arm, earning a scowl from the smaller sax player. Matt stepped between the two of them to separate them and called up to his grandfather to let the man know he was home and the other two were with him.

Mr. Olsen sighed, carefully moving the spoon around the coffee in his mug. As normal as the whole scene seemed, it was still too strange for him to be able to stomach. This wasn't supposed to be Matt's normal life. He'd _heard_ about Matt's view of a 'normal life' and joshing around with Nigel and Eric without a care in the world didn't fit in it. Matt was supposed to be out saving worlds with a group of fairy warriors with a pet dormouse and a talking black that turned into 7-foot beasts.

He knew that he was thinking off of only half of the story, and he knew that no matter how magical his son was, he was still a 15-year-old kid and would still hang out with his friends, but that didn't stop the slightly out-of-place feeling he got from the sight of the three of them.

"So where's your magnifying glass?" Eric asked Matt.

"My room," he replied. "C'mon, my Gramps'll leave us alone in my room and we can _talk_."

Mr. Olsen raised an eyebrow at his son's words. It didn't _sound_ like they were just going to "talk". He knew Matt was a good kid, but even the best kids fell to peer pressure, and it was his duty as a parent to make sure his didn't. Matt might think that the ghost of his father was coming back to haunt him, but at least he wouldn't be trying anything stupid.

So he put down his cup of coffee and followed the teenagers into Matt's bedroom.

Matt uncaringly shoved a load of dirty papers stained with circles from various cups of coffee and Coke off of his work desk as Eric and Nigel came in, shutting the door behind them. Mr. Olsen leaned over Matt's shoulder curiously as he opened a drawer and pulled out a large, antique magnifying glass he definitely recognized.

It was the same one he'd given Matt when he was five and wanted a closer look at the ants in the backyard. It's been passed down through almost 5 generations of Olsens and showed it, the brass handle well worn from base to tip. Mr. Olsen smiled, patting his son's back. It wasn't like he'd feel it anyway.

Matt frowned and looked up at the two boys standing by the door. "Hey, which one of you guys poked me?" he asked. Nigel and Eric glanced at each other and shook their heads. "Weird."

Mr. Olsen blinked in surprise. He'd have to tell Napoleon next time he saw the cat, that Matt still seemed to at least be partially connected to a Heart if he could _feel_ him.

Suddenly, Mr. Huggles jumped onto the workdesk, scampering up Matt's arm and standing on his left shoulder, rubbing his face into Matt's chin. The boy smiled and scratched the dormouse's head. "Hey Mr. H. Miss me?"

The rodent squealed in reply.

"Yeah, missed you too. Al, I want you to meet my dormouse, Mr. Huggles. Huggles, this is a new friend of mine, Al."

Mr. Olsen's eyes nearly fell out of his skull as a person the size of his thumb jumped off of Matt's right shoulder and landed neatly on the desk. "Al", apparently, crossed her arms and looked up at the dormouse. The tiny Regent cocked his head and ran back down Matt's arm to get a closer look even as Mr. Olsen knelt at the side of the table for the same reason.

Al stayed perfectly still as Huggles sniffed her once, twice, and then gently put his head underneath her crossed arms. The tiny girl blinked in surprise and smiled, gently stroking the pet's white fur.

"He's cute," she said, scratching under his chin. "Why in the name of the Heart did you name him 'Huggles'?"

Huggles jumped at the word and stared into Al's bright green eyes. Matt chuckled in reply. "Uh, I didn't name him," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "He was a present for…"

Matt's clear blue eyes suddenly clouded over, his mouth opening slightly. The boy quickly shook his head, as if clearing it, and winced, rubbing his temples.

"Matt?" Nigel asked, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You okay, man?" Mr. Olsen looked at his son in worry.

"Y-yeah. Headache. I just need a couple aspirin, I'll be fine." Matt turned away and picked a clear bottle of the white pills form his bedside table, popping two into his mouth and taking a swallow from the glass of water waiting there.

Eric raised his eyebrows. "And… _how_ long've you had the headache?" he asked, and Mr. Olsen had to agree with the question. If Matt had everything set up for the symptoms beside his bed, he must've had it for a while.

Matt chuckled and smiled. "Guys, it's _nothing_…"

Nigel narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Uh uh. How long, dude?"

Matt sighed and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Since we woke up on Saturday." Nigel and Eric gaped at him. "Guys, I'm telling you, it's _nothing_…"

"It's not _nothing!_" Nigel insisted. "They're the memories, aren't they?" Mr. Olsen did a double take. _The boys knew they were missing memories?_ Matt didn't deny it and only looked away. "Dude! You can't just push them away! Your head'll explode or something!"

Matt scowled. "My head is _not_ gonna explode. Besides, we have more important things to deal with," he added, motioning to Al.

Al snorted. "I don't think so," she told him harshly. The three of them stared at her. "_No_ animal likes me this much," she explained, pointing to Huggles, who was begging for another scratch. "Few animals willingly come near Protectors. Yet your dormouse has _no_ problem with magical creatures and I _swear_ he looked me in the eye when I said 'Heart'."

"So?" Matt asked, no understanding."

Al rolled her eyes. "Your dormouse has something to do with the Heart of Earth and I'd bet my book it's linked to your missing memories."

The three boys stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Mr. Huggles?" Matt asked, gasping for air. "And the Heart of Earth? Are you crazy?"

"Mr. Huggles has about as much magic as, as… Taranee!" Nigel burst, giggling.

"Oh God, that's a good one," Eric said, grinning. "Tell us another, Al. C'mon, I haven't laughed like that in days!"

Al scowled. "Fine. _Don't_ believe me. But you three were chosen to be Knights for a reason, and I'm betting Matt's memories has something to do with it. You should let them flow, just once."

Matt shook his head. "Now you really _are_ crazy," he told her.

"Why not?" she challenged. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid!"

"I think you are. Why else would you try and suppress your memories?" Al jumped into the air, floating two inches from Matt's eyes. "I'm going to tell you what a friend of mine told me when I was too afraid of giants to go out into the field. _Suck it up, grow a pair, and DO IT!"_

Matt fell back on his bed at the sheer volume of the screech. Nigel leaned into Eric's ear. "Yikes. Her friend doesn't sound too nice."

Al spun and glared at them. Nigel jumped straight and sent the tiny girl an innocent grin.

Matt sighed and leaned back against the wall his bed was pushed against, closing his eyes and allowing the mental barriers to fall around his mind. Almost immediately, his headache cleared.

Also almost immediately, Al yelped as she fell from her spot 5 feet off the floor. Nigel nearly turned into a bright red blur as he dove and caught the falling Protector. The peanut gallery watched, amazed, as the blue dust that had once encircled Al rose through the air and formed into a large cloud above Matt's head.

In the very center of the cloud, an image shot into clarity, of a snow-covered mountain. Uncoincidentally, that was the same image that Matt was seeing in his mind's eye.

… _a snow-tipped mountain… Mt. Thanos…_

… _an abandoned jail cell…_

… _an ugly, nearly mummified old woman…_

… _boiling hatred… extreme pain in his entire body…_

… _an angel-winged demon holding him by the neck…_

… "_You _ARE_ me. I _AM_ you. No getting past it, Mattieboy. _You_ are just as _evil_, just as _cruel_, just as _heartless_ and _hateful_ as _I_ am, because we are _one and the same_..."…_

Matt shrieked in fright and denial, his eyes flying wide open. The mental blocks replaced themselves automatically, shutting off the terrifying memories that plagued the young boy. Unshed tears built behind his eyes, held back by some unremembered promise never to cry over his past again.

Matt didn't notice Nigel, Al, and Eric's horrified faces, and wouldn't have seen his father's shocked one if he'd looked. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in his hands.

"No, no, no, no, no… I'm not evil, I'm not him, I'm not heartless, I'm not… No, no, no, no…"

Forgetting the fact that his son couldn't see him, Mr. Olsen sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around the boy. Matt subconsciously leaned into the hug, shivering slightly and continuing his mantra.

Eric licked his lips and sat down on Matt's other side, patting his friend on the back in what he hoped was a comforting, if slightly awkward manner. "It's… it's okay, man. You're okay here. That… thing can't hurt you."

Nigel knelt in front of his best friend, resting a hand on his knee. "Matt," he said gently, getting the boy's attention. The tears that made Matt's eyes shine even brighter than usual tore at the bassist's heartstrings—who wanted to see their best friend crying? "Matt, listen to me. I don't know what happened, I don't know who or what that thing was…"

Matt shook his head vigorously, his hair flying left and right. "Matt, focus. I _do_ know that you're right and he's wrong. You're _not_ evil, you're _not_ cruel, you're _not _heartless, and you're the _least_ hateful person I've ever _met_. He has to be lying, because there it no way on this _planet_ that _you_ and that monster are the same person."

Mr. Olsen hugged his son a little tighter as the boy hesitantly nodded. There were a couple things apparently left out of the Guardians' story. Things involving his son, things that could take the strongest person he'd met, someone who could take on worlds of evil and fight continuously, without rest, for innocents and for the good of others, and turn them into the young, scared child he was holding right now.

He was going to have a _strong_ talk with Will when he saw her.

* * *

**Personally, I think Matt took the aftermath of the Shagon Saga a little too well. But I guess the writers of the series didn't want to put the heart-to-heart Will and Matt had afterwards on TV. And maybe the whole Regents thing probably helped a ton, but without the memories of _that_, I figure the whole ordeal hit him hard.**

**Written listening to: a whole lot of $hit I can't remember, but it includes All-American Rejects, B.o.B., Sum 41, etc.**

**BTW, who here watched 'My Babysitter's A Vampire'? I think it could've been made better, but the concept is terr-frickin'-ific! :D**

_**~Tibki**_


	32. Chapter 32: Saga, Security, Shinobu

**Hey guys!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Thirty-Two: A Saga, A Security Guard, and Shinobu-**

As soon as Matt had seemed to calm down enough, Mr. Olsen let go of his son and left the house, giving Mr. Huggles a pointed, meaningful look. The dormouse seemed to understand, as he ran back onto Matt's collarbone and encircled they boy's neck a few times before chittering towards his father.

One of the few upsides to be completely invisible to the public was that no one would bother you when you walked down the street. Mr. Olsen passed street vendors that would have, at any other time, dragged him into their clutches to sell him items that were no doubt stolen or fake. He had to be careful not to brush up against anyone lest he cause a city-wide ghost hunt, but otherwise he was left to peace.

It was a ten-minute walk to the _Silver Dragon_ from the Olsen's. He knew it, because the few times he'd been at home he and Matt usually had dinner there, walking to and from the house. He liked to think that the times he spent with Matt, however few, were times that he was actually a good father. They weren't many, but he must not have done anything bad during them, because Matt had turned out well, though that was probably due to his grandfather's care in raising.

Mr. Olsen waited for a customer to enter the restaurant before slipping in through the door closing behind them. The restaurant was filled with people, but Mr. Olsen bypassed most of those waiting to be seated by Mr. Lin and headed for the kitchen where Yan and Mira Lin were cooking.

"Mrs. Lin?" he asked once he was sure they were alone. Both old ladies looked up and smiled at the man standing in front of them.

"Hello, Mr. Olsen," Yan Lin said—he was pretty sure it was Yan Lin, as she wore a blue belt on her robe and Mira wore a red one. "It's nice to see you again."

Mr. Olsen nodded. "Nice to see you too. Is Will here?" he asked. "I need to talk to her about my son."

Yan and Mira shared a knowing look before turning back to him. "I'm afraid the girls all went to Will's apartment," Mira replied.

"We can answer any questions you have, though," Yan Lin added. "I've been right next to them all this time, after all."

The man nodded again. "Matt's memories are coming back," he explained.

"That's wonderful!" Mira said.

"You'd think he'd think so too, but apparently he's trying to block them out."

Yan Lin frowned. "Why would Matthew try and repress his memories?"

Mr. Olsen snorted. "I dunno, the image of that demon telling him they were the same person would make me think twice about remembering my past." Both women winced appropriately. The man went on, his voice polite but icy as the frozen north. "I thought Matt _was_ that angel-thing, but he's definitely not evil and that thing said he was. Would you mind explaining what the #ell happened to me son?"

Yan Lin sighed. "Mira, can you take over?" she asked, receiving a nod. "Come, Peter Olsen, stories are best shared over a cup of steaming tea."

The old grandmother led the man into the back room of the restaurant seating him in the same booth the girls shared when they first realized their destinies as Guardians. She shuffled over to the stove where a pot of water was continuously boiling and poured two cups, dropping a few tealeaves into each.

Yan Lin sighed and lowered herself in the seat across from the Quintessence Guardian's boyfriend's father. "So, you wish to know why your Matthew is both sensitive to being called evil or hateful and why a demon told him they were the same person."

Mr. Olsen blinked at her. "How did you know he doesn't like…?"

Yan Lin flapped a hand. "Give an ex-Guardian some credit," she told him. "I protected multiple dimensions from evil for over a decade. I know these things." She shook her head. "The story you are asking me to tell you is highly personal to everyone involved. You're lucky you came to me first, because I'm not sure if the girls would tell you, and I am fairly sure Will is in no shape to do so either.

"We call it the Shagon Saga."

"You better now, dude?" Eric asked gently, keeping a supportive hand on his friend's back.

Matt nodded, smirking embarrassedly. "Yeah. Thanks guys… that was… pretty stupid."

"I beg to differ," Nigel admitted. "That was pretty scary. What _was_ that thing?"

Matt shivered at the reminder, terrified of things he couldn't even remember. "I-I don't know," he replied. "The only thing I can remember besides that… _thing_, is something to do with 'The Demon in Me'."

Al, now able to fly once more, floated up in front of Matt's eyes. "It definitely looked like a demon," she agreed. "There were rumors about a hate demon flying around the city a few months back."

The color in Matt's face vanished. "You don't think… that was _me_, do you?"

The Protector shrugged. "According to the rumor, it was destroyed last autumn. So since you're still here…" Matt sighed in relief. "Besides, I highly doubt the Heart of Earth would've chosen a demon as its knight."

"Chick makes a good point," Nigel told him.

Matt nodded, grinning at his friends. "Yeah. Thanks." He straightened and looked at Al. "Well, I think I had enough of a freak out for today, so lets see that book, okay?"

The Protector nodded and flew over to the workdesk, putting the book down on the surface and turning to the correct page. Matt stood up and lifted the old magnifying glass his father had given him ages ago, using it to get a better picture of the sketch. Nigel and Eric came in closer, looking over his shoulder.

The image of the human stretched across both pages and nearly across the entire width of the book. Matt whistled. "That's a pretty heavy man," he said. "What's he wearing?"

"It was always the same thing," Al put in. "A white chest with all these holes and black legs and feet."

"A security guard uniform?" he continued. "Weir… guys? Are you two okay?"

Nigel reached out and tapped the glass. "I know that guy," he realized. "I, I remember him from… somewhere…"

Eric nodded. "I think… I hit him with a security camera?" The others turned and stared openly at the third boy. "What? I'm just saying what I remember!"

"A _security camera_?" Nigel repeated, incredulous.

Matt frowned and put down the magnifying glass, thoughtful. He picked up the fishing hat that was eternally on his bedside table and put it on, heading for the door. Al, Nigel, and Eric watched him, confused.

"Uh, dude?" Eric asked. "Where're you going?"

"I need to think," he replied.

Eric and Al turned to Nigel, who knew the black-haired boy best. He shrugged. "Matt goes to the park in the city when he needs to focus on something," he explained.

Al frowned at the boys. "What's a park?"

The girls were still sitting around the Vandom's dining table when Will's mother arrived, holding a few bags of groceries and looking very tired. Will immediately shot up and helped her with the bags.

"Long day?" she asked, reading the purple marks under the woman's eyes perfectly.

"You have _no_ idea," she replied. "Hello girls."

"Hey Mrs. Vandom," the four friends replied. "You sock that Robert dude in the mouth?" Irma continued.

"Irma!" Cornelia protested.

"It came close, but I have an _amazing_ amount of self-control," the mother answered with a sly grin, making the teenagers giggle. "What've you five been doing?"

"Talking," Hay Lin replied. "There's a new girl at school and Irma made friends with her in 3rd period."

The brunette nodded. "She's pretty cool. Her name's Shinobu, she and her family just moved here from _Tokyo_, of all places. I invited her to the _Dragon_ for dinner later."

"Can I go?" Will asked her mother. "Pretty please?"

Mrs. Vandom frowned. "Will, I _just_ bought dinner," she said, motioning to the bags.

"_Please?_" Will's brown eyes grew large and watery as she clasped her hands near her chin. The Vandoms were famous for two things: their Death Stare and the Puppy Dog Look. No one could resist either.

The older woman sighed. "Fine. But bring leftovers, okay?"

Will grinned and hugged her mother. "Thanks!"

* * *

** It's short, but it's setting up for answers in the next few chapters! :D**

**_~Tibki_**


	33. Chapter 33: Sewer Lines in Central Park

**Hiya guys!**

**Sorry it's later than usual, been MEGA busy today. But it's here! :D**

**Without further ado, please enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H., _Batman_ (especially The Joker), and a certain phrase from Harry Potter. I will award anyone who finds it and names where it's from.**

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**-Thirty-Three: Sewer Lines in Central Park-**

Despite the glowing metropolitan-esque downtown in the very center of the city, Heatherfield was not a massive place. The towering skyscrapers of the financial and business districts took up less than a hundred blocks in the very center of the area that was otherwise made entirely up of family-owned shops and stores and well-placed and constructed suburbs that made the city seem more like a small town struggling to get by through modern times.

However, when planning out the city a hundred years ago, the founders of Heatherfield had had a vision that made "the city between the elements", complete with a border to the mountains, a port on the waters, and farms on the wind-swept plains, the New York, New York of the future. So they'd gotten hold of maps of the major city however they could and combined New York's greatest architectural achievements with their ideas on how to correct the downfalls and worked them into the new city of Heatherfield.

So, just like New York City, Heatherfield held a massive park inside its borders, a sprawling, rolling landscape of green grass and trees. Blue lakes and ponds dotted the rectangular crop of land, connected either naturally or through man-made streams criss-crossed by bridges that little kids often threw sticks off of to race. Brown nature trails, pounded into the earth by man's foot and man's foot alone, wound through the miniature forests of pine and oak trees, spiderwebbing in every direction and all ultimately leading to the clearing in the very center.

Matt tended to stay away from the clearing when coming to Heatherfield Park. Too much noise, too many things going on for him to be able to focus. If he ever had time, he went into the normally heavily populated area to watch kids play and fly kites or couples have picnics, finding a moment of peace.

But when he had to think, as he did now, Matt retreated into the maze of nature trails inside the densest woods in the park. He'd escape from anyone else's sights and melt into the surroundings without a sound, like a spirit temporarily leaving the mortal plain of existence to return once more at a later time.

Few people knew he came into the actual forest this often. Fewer still followed him into the area. The enormous, inch-thick vines with the just-as-long thorns usually deterred them enough. Matt could only get through by stepping in certain places wearing thick-soled sneakers and picking the thorns out of his clothes one by one.

But once you were past the barriers, if you were in the right place, a small area completely unseen to most human eyes appeared. Even though the builders of the park had sworn that not a single piece of human technology had touched the "virgin land", the sewer lines of the city still had to cross underneath it. Therefore, in discreet places few people ever discovered, manholes sat on raised concrete painted green.

The clearing had been made to house one of those manholes. The trees within a 10-foot radius of the sewer were cut down and replaced by grass. Those at the very edges of the circle had grown tall and strong and wide, covering the hole from the sight of anyone flying above.

Matt arrived at the empty clearing and smiled at the sheer silence of the area. Birds had decided that staying outside, when the weather was what it was, was not a smart idea and had taken refuge inside their nests, staying silent, almost afraid that their songs might encourage the rain to fall. The crickets and cicadas must have had similar thinking, as they hid inside their underground dens, wary of the drops that could be fatal to them where they were simply annoying to their feathered friends.

He crossed the ankle-high grass and lifted himself on top of the manhole, sitting cross-legged on its surface and letting the complete silence of the clearing wash over him. Matt felt tension release from his shoulders and back as his mind relaxed, still keeping a wary eye on the mental blocks that kept memories of that _thing_ from reappearing.

But even the memories seemed to recognize the odd respect the clearing seemed to request and stayed back, letting the boy enjoy a few moments without the pounding headache he'd been battling all day.

Matt breathed the clean air deeply, resting his hands on his thighs, and set his mind onto the questions at hand. Al had seen and noted that a heavy-weight human had come to the clearing more than once just before her people started disappearing. Nigel and Eric had recognized him, but weren't sure from where. Which could mean that he'd been at least present with them on Saturday.

_He was definitely wide enough to make that huge gap in the weeds_, Matt realized, remembering the nearly-mown grass in the field. _He could have been the ones to dump us in the stream. He knew where it was since he'd come there before._

_But why'd he take us in the first place?_ Their kidnapping and the disappearances of Al's friends and family were connected, he knew it, but he didn't know _how_. Who would take a bunch of magical Protectors, and then kidnap three normal human boys just for the #ell of it?

_Not normal._

Matt's eyes flew open at the realization. He, Nige, and Eric _weren't_ normal. Not anymore, at least… not Nigel and Eric. He had a feeling, one that made him nervous in the pit of his stomach, that he wasn't normal even before Saturday.

Was it possible that the Protectors had been stolen for the magic they represented? Al had told them that while the magic they _held_ was small, it wasn't attached to them completely. If a Protector was unable to continue his or her work, the magic they held would transfer into those who could. That was why Al could fly when, while her friends and family were around, she was just as gravity-bound as human beings. But the magic they _represented_, the magic they had just by existing, _was_ attached to them. _It_ could be harvested… even if he really didn't want to think about how that work.

So once the magic was taken from the stolen Protectors, the thieves had switched crimes and kidnapped three boys, two normal and one seemingly-normal, and infused their magic into them? Matt shuddered at the idea. But he couldn't see any other reason why the two would be connected. Matt felt guilt and horror settle into his very core and his stomach turned, just thinking about the _idea_. It was stolen magic, torn from people with dreams and desires, people who loved and wanted to love, people whose very beings depended on that same magic…

It was blood magic.

Matt swallowed down a retch and suddenly froze, frowning. Something was off. The peace of the clearing had disappeared and the headache was growing once more without it, but he wasn't sure why.

"!"

Oh. That was why.

Matt yelped and dove for cover as Eric dropped through the canopy of the trees, holding Nigel under the arms. A truly terrified look covered Eric's face, his eyes forced open wider than Matt had ever seen them. Nigel appeared to be enjoying himself, a massive grin over his lips.

"Up, up, up, up, up!" Eric cried, as if that would stop their descent. Nigel yelled joyfully, exhilarated from the weightless feeling of the freefall. They had to be falling from quite a height to be reaching that speed, and hitting the ground would, at the _very_ least, give them a trip to the hospital.

Matt's body acted even before his brain could send the commands. His vision slid into the spectrum that made the forces visible to his eyes automatically as his right hand tore a normal force from his left wrist and tossed it towards his falling friends.

"Whoa!" Nigel yelped as they suddenly stopped in mid-air, bobbing up and down slightly a few feet off the ground. "Dude! Nice stop!"

Eric looked even more afraid now than he had before. Matt guessed the motion of flying comforted the boy… somewhat. It gave his mind less time to work out the whole 'holy $hit this is HIGH' thoughts. Hovering was going to be a major problem.

"I-I-it's not me!" he replied shrilly. "S-s-someone else is…"

"Keeping you two from dying?" Matt asked, stepping from the shadows of the woods. He'd managed to clear the entire empty area in one leap—that was impressive, he guessed. Eric and Nigel tensed slightly before relaxing once they realized who their savior was. Matt slowly pulled the normal force back with just a twitch of his wrist, letting his friends gently touch the ground below them.

Eric sighed as soon as he did, dropping to his knees and putting his hands on the soft grass underfoot. "Oh, sweet gravity," he murmured. "I missed you so much."

Nigel looked at the boy kneeling beside him and raised an eyebrow. "Nice, man. You really faced your fear, didn't you?"

The glare Eric shot the redhead could've killed a man at 50 paces. "I probably would've been fine if you were _shaking_ in _mid-flight!_"

"I can't help it!" Nigel protested. "I'm even more hyper like this—I can't stop moving!"

It was only then that Matt noticed at his friends, while usually about the same height as him, were towering over him, both almost six feet tall. They were in the uniforms that apparently identified them as Knights of Earth, daggers and weapons hanging loosely form their backs and waists. Matt looked down at himself—the Heart around his neck didn't seem any different than before (though it was hard to tell with magical jewels), and he was _definitely_ still in his sweater and cargoes.

"How'd you guys transform?" he asked curiously. "I thought you needed the Heart for that."

Al floated from the canopy and landed gently on the manhole in the center of the clearing. "Knights don't need the Heart to transform," she replied. "You guys had the magic on your own. The Heart only kick-started it the first one or two times you changed. After that, you guys can switch whenever you want or need to without needing you, Matt, to use the Heart, or even the others to switch either. Doesn't mean you don't need it, though. It should come in handy."

In a flash of light, Nigel and Eric returned to their normal selves. "Case in point," Al added. "One or two of you transforming on your own has a time limit. If you use the Heart, you can keep going forever."

"So, you do anything thinking?" Nigel asked Matt, smirking and still twitching his fingers. He had to wonder if the hyper-ness completely faded after he returned to normal.

Matt nodded, a grin slowly growing. "Yeah," he replied.

"And? You figure anything out?" Eric asked eagerly. "That looks like a good-news face to me."

"It is," he replied. "Al just debunked the theory I had."

Nigel looked at his friend as if he'd grown a second head. "How is that good?" he demanded. "We're back where we started!"

"My theory," Matt continued, "was that whoever kidnapped us also took Al's friends and family and gave their magic to us." Al grew pale at the very idea. "But since she said we had the magic from the beginning, that can't be. Thank God."

"That's good," Nigel admitted. "But we're still nowhere on basically everything else."

Matt shook his head. "The disappearances and our kidnappings are linked, I know it. The heavy guy who staked out the field, you guys remember him from Saturday, and he's big enough to have made that rut in the grass we found after we woke up, remember?"

Eric nodded. "He must work for whoever took us and them as like, a security guard or something. Maybe we can run facial recognition software on him or something?"

"From a piece of paper the size of your thumbnail?" Nigel asked in reply. "We wouldn't be able to run the _Joker's_ face through facial recognition." He looked at Matt. "How are we supposed to find a Protector kidnapper who's perfectly human? We can't go around asking people, 'do you know anyone who needed magical beings?'! We'll get thrown in an asylum!"

"Wait, shush!" Al told him, putting a hand to her mouth. Nigel continued his rant, either ignorant or uncaring of the Protector's orders. "Hey, motormouth! Shut your piehole before I fill it with dog $hit!"

That shut Nigel up, and got Eric to giggle a little. "God!" Al continued. "Boys. What's this thing made of?"

All three boys stared at her. "Uh… concrete," Nigel replied. "Why?"

Al nodded slowly, taking a few steps back onto the concrete that was holding the manhole cover she'd been standing on. "Well, I was curious," she replied, "I've never seen concrete before. And what about that, what's that?"

She pointed to the metal cover, jabbing her finger a few times, her eyes wide and meaningful. Matt's eyes widened as he understood—someone was underneath the manhole and listening. He motioned for Nigel and Eric to go around the sides of the cover. The boys nodded and did so, making as little noise as they could. Matt still cringed as his ears picked up the rustling grass and snapping twigs under their feet.

"It's metal," he told Al, walking forward perfectly silently. "Probably iron."

Al smiled as Matt's vision slid once more, glad that he had understood. "Huh. What does it do?"

Matt pulled a tiny fiber from one of the ribbons around his wrist, miniscule compared to the stream needed to keep Eric and Nigel afloat. He nodded to Al before tossing one end of the ribbon at the cover.

"Hide eavesdroppers, for one!" he shouted as the metal flew up and off, the ribbon disappearing from sight. Eric and Nigel bent into the hole and grabbed whatever had been hiding underneath, pulling it up into the light of day in a pair of closed fists each.

Eric's face quickly became disgusted. "It's _moving!_" he yelped. "We didn't pick up _rats,_ did we?"

"OW!" Nigel cried out, managing not to let go of whatever had been spying and instead cupping his hands together. "It _bit_ me! The stupid rat _bit_ me!"

"Hey, what's with calling us rats?" The Knights froze, eyes growing wide as Eric's fist began speaking.

"Shut up!" Nigel's hands replied. "Do you _want_ them to know we're here?"

"You shut up!"

"No, you!"

"You!"

"Both of you shut up right now!" Al ordered, her voice laden with threats that were even scarier unsaid. "Nigel, Eric, what'd you catch?"

Nigel looked down at his cupped hands and spread his fingers a little on the top, making a kind of human, barred cage and looking through it. Shock quickly registered on the boy's face, his eyes widening and mouth hanging loose.

"Nige?" Matt asked hesitantly. "What is it?"

Nigel swallowed and opened his fist all the way. Sitting in his palm, glaring up at the boy, was a miniature person wearing what seemed to be clothes made of strips of an old newspaper. He was about the size of Eric's thumb and was rubbing his close-cut head as if in pain. His skin was darker, like an African-American human's, but his size was proof enough that he was anything but.

"I think… he's a Protector."

Al fainted.

* * *

**Boop! Unconscious Protector. XD**

**Written listening to: 'Iris' and 'I'm Still Here' by the Goo Goo Dolls; 'Hero', 'Photograph', 'Far Away', and 'Savin' Me' by Nickelback; 'Airplanes' by B.o.B. ft. Hayley Williams; 'Just A Dream' by Nelly (who isn't, btw, a girl); 'Weightless' by All Time Low'; 'Weightless' and 'Strip Me' by Natasha Bedingfield; 'Please Don't Go' by Michael Posner; 'Love Like Woe' by The Ready Set; 'Stuck Like Glue' by Sugarland; 'Grenade' by Bruno Mars; and 'Haven't Met You Yet' by Michael Buble.**

**That's a lot of songs.**

_**~Tibki**_


	34. Chapter 34: Moo Goo Gai Pan

**Hey guys!**

**HOLY $HIT 100 REVIEWS? ~falls over dead and dies until very dead~**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Thirty-Four: Moo Goo Gai Pan-**

If one was a regular at the Chinese restaurant, _The Silver Dragon_, which most of its patrons either were or were about to become once they tasted Yan Lin's secret sesame chicken recipe, they'd easily admit to seeing a group of teenaged girls often hanging around the area, either just passing through the waiting area, or sometimes even helping out if the place was busy.

Most people knew the group as simply The Five: the five, inseparable friends by the names of Will Vandom, Irma Lair, Taranee Cook, Cornelia Hale, and Hay Lin. The girls were often seen running around town, often with one or two of their boyfriends, and the restaurant was almost like their headquarters. Seeing them pass by and retreat into the basement, often with serious looks on their faces, wasn't an odd occurrence.

Today, however, they weren't just passing through or helping the Lins serve dinner. This time they were patrons, sitting around a table in one of the more private back rooms of the restauarant.

Also different from norm was the shy, Asian girl with black hair sitting in the sixth chair at the table. Irma had met Shinobu in 2nd period art and become quick friends with the girl and her great laugh when Irma ended up with the paints over her head.

"So, Shinobu," Hay Lin said with a large grin. "Where're ya from?"

Shinobu turned a slight shade of red. "Uh… Tokyo," she replied. "My father owns a company in control of research in labs across the world. We have opened one in Heatherfield, somewhere, and he came to oversee the project inside it."

"Oooh," Cornelia squealed, excited. "I've been to Tokyo before! They have _excellent_ shopping malls. The entire city's very clean."

Shinobu nodded. "You miss it?" Taranee asked kindly. She nodded once more.

"What kind of projects does your daddy work on?" Irma wondered. "Is it top secret government stuff? You know—I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you?" she asked, holding her dinner knife up threateningly.

The girls laughed at the face the brunette was making, and even Shinobu giggled a little. "Not exactly," she replied, "but he does not let me into his files, so I do not know. Father does not talk of his work much, for how much time he spends there."

"Don't I know that feeling," Will nodded. "Half the time I'm at home, my Mom's either working or sleeping because she works so much." Shinobu nodded once more. "It'd probably be easier on her if some of the slackers at her work actually did something instead of shoot paper balls into trashcans all day though."

"How're you liking Heatherfield?" Taranee asked curiously. "Your English is great—are you enrolling in Sheffield for the entire time you're here?"

Shinobu nodded. "Heatherfield is a great place," she answered. "It almost reminds me of Tokyo, except smaller, more, ho would you say… like a small town?" The girls nodded. "And thank you, my father began teaching me English at a very young age. We actually learned together. He needed to be able to speak with his American business associates and I like learning new languages. And yes, since father promised that this would be our final move, I am staying in Sheffield until my graduation."

"You _like_ learning new languages?" Irma repeated, shocked. "Are you sure you're human?" she asked, gently poking her with her fork. Shinobu pulled away, smiling—she was used to that kind of reaction.

"Irma!" Taranee still protested. "Some people actually _like_ learning, no matter how much that surprises you."

The brunette shrugged. "Never been one much for school," she explained to Shinobu.

"Yeah," Cornelia commented, "her grades tend to lean towards the consonant side of the scale. And not the first few letters, either." Irma scowled at her blonde friend even as the others giggled.

"This is very good food," Shinobu commented. "Hay Lin, your family owns this restaurant?"

Hay Lin nodded with a proud grin. "Yup! My grandparents started it _ages_ ago. My grandmas are the cooks, they use recipes they have from just about ancient times!"

"Best noodles in the world," Will agreed. "No one can cook like the Missus Lins." She smiled at Shinobu. "Well, tell us more. Do you have any siblings?"

Shinobu's face, once smiling widely at her newfound friends, quickly fell. The turned her head towards her lap and Will realized she had done something wrong. "Uh, if you don't want to answer, that's okay, I should really be less nosy…"

The girl shook her head, meeting their eyes once more. "No, I apologize," she said, "it was a standard question, I just…" Shinobu cleared her throat. "I had one sister, Mariko. She was a great sister, loyal and loving and _extremely_ intelligent. Mariko… Mariko went missing a few months ago."

The girls grew silent at the story. "I'm sorry," Will offered, "I had no idea…."

Shinobu shook her head. "It is not your fault. Besides, I think we will meet again, sooner or later."

Irma grinned at the girl. "That's right, keep the faith alive, my sister!" she cried loudly, getting several curious looks from the other patrons. She didn't seem to care, however, and didn't even respond when Cornelia frantically shushed her.

"You'll have to forgive Irma," the blonde told Shinobu dryly. "We have a feeling she was dropped on her head as a child."

Irma responded to _that_ and tossed a Chinese doughnut at the girl. Cornelia shrieked as the sticky, sugar-crusted pastry landed in her lap. She glared and tossed a handful of noodles in retaliation, beaning her in the face with the slimy strings.

By this point Will, Taranee, and Shinobu were laughing so hard they were risking falling out of their chairs as Hay Lin tried to fight down her own giggles enough to quiet them down and stop wrecking her family's dining room.

When a piece of sesame chicken accidentally hit Shinobu between the eyes, Irma and Cornelia froze mid-throw, shocked. The Japanese girl slowly stood, wiping the meat and sauce from her forehead. With a cold smirk, Shinobu picked up her moo goo gai pan, scooped a large amount into her hands, and chucked it at the two warring teenagers.

"I believe you would call this a food fight, correct?" she asked Will with a bright grin and a similarly bright, lilting laugh.

"Oh man, you're gonna fit in perfectly!" Hay Lin told the girl before the four girls joined the brawl.

"Oh man, I am in so much trouble," Hay Lin added, leading her friends into the back room of the restaurant, the one that held a sink big enough for all six of them to wash in. Despite her words, though, she was grinning just as much as the rest of them.

"Don't worry, I'll take blame as well," Shinobu promised her.

"And us, don't forget us," Irma spoke up. "We got into this $hit together, we can deal with the punishment together too!"

"Nice language," Cornelia commented wryly. "Your mouth is dirtier than your shirt."

"That's only because your aim sucks, my dear."

"Oh, hey grandma!" Hay Lin said, surprised to see the old woman there, and serving tea to a strangely bug-eyed Mr. Olsen at that. "This is our new friend Shinobu. 'Obu," she said, using he nickname Irma had come up with three minutes earlier, "this is one of my grandmas, Yan Lin."

"Your cooking is excellent, Grandmother Lin," Shinobu said, bowing slightly.

Yan Lin chuckled, looking over the six girls. "To eat or to wear?" she asked with a grin. The girls laughed. "It is nice to meet you, Shinobu. And I love your noodle hair extensions."

Shinobu blushed slightly, touching the strands of noodles mixed into her black-blue hair before replying. "Well, Will told me it was the best recipe on the planet, so I had to see if it looks just as well as it tasted."

"Apparently it does," she answered. "You might start a trend, girls, so you'd better watch out or everyone will be wearing Chinese food."

"At least no one would be hungry," Taranee commented before rushing for the sink and turning on the hot water.

The other girls came to her side, laughing as they splashed each other with the soapy water and fought over the stream coming from the tap. Once the sticky substances were washed off of their arms and the kitchen floor was well and soaked, the tap was turned off.

"We should wait a few minutes for the water heater to catch up before going for showers," Hay Lin told her friends. "I'm pretty sure I have a few sets of you guys' clothes somewhere in my closet, and I _know_ I have something that'll fit you, 'Obu."

Shinobu blushed. "Thank you," she said gratefully. "My father would not be happy if I returned covered in moo goo gai pan."

"That was _your_ fault," Irma reminded her. "We were happy sticking with sesame chicken and noodles, but you _had_ to bring out the vegetables."

"The vitamins and minerals are essential," she replied with a smile. The other girls laughed.

The laughter stopped at once when the girl turned to the booth and put her clean hand out in front of Mr. Olsen's face. "I am sorry," she told him, "for not introducing myself. I am Shinobu Takeda."

The room fell into shocked silence as everyone stared at the girl, Mr. Olsen included. She looked around, confused and slowly drawing her hand back. "Was… it something I said?" she asked nervously.

"You can _see_ him?" Will demanded, shocked.

Shinobu blinked at her in surprise. "Of course. He's sitting right here, isn't he?"

Yan Lin stepped forward and looked directly into Shinobu's eyes. The girl blinked back at the woman, not moving her gaze but terrifically confused. "You are not a normal girl, are you?" she asked gently, smiling slightly.

"Uh…?"

"Strange things have been happening around you lately. Am I right?"

Mr. Olsen stood, shock clearly visible across his entire being, and cocked his head at the girl. "I know you," he said.

"You… do?"

He raised a hand and pointed at her. "You're the girl!"

"The girl?"

"The girl who opened the fold that brought me home!"

* * *

**Well then.**

**I have a little bad news for you guys. :( Me, my Mom, and my sisters are heading to Virginia for vacay tonight, we're gonna go see D.C. while we're at it and have 4th of July over there. While it promises to be fun, it's unfortunately a 12-hour drive. My computer has an hour battery life, and no Internet connection on the road. I'm not even sure if there's any at the place we're staying at, so I probably won't post tomorrow... or possibly for the next week, at most. ~dodges flying fruit~ ...Hey, didn't I ask for Snicker's bars a little while back?**

**I'm sorry guys, but I promise you, after his SHORT hiatus, I will finish this thing. I will reiterate that statement and shorten it down: I PROMISE. This is not the end of Earth Day!**

**Written while listening to: 'Airplanes' by B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams, 'Follow Me Down' by 3OH!3 ft. Neon Hitch, 'Deja Vu' by 3OH!3, 'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls, and 'I'm Still Here' by the Goo Goo Dolls.**

**_~Tibki_**


	35. Chapter 35: Explanations

**GUESS WHO'S BACK?**

**Yeah, that's right, I'M back... though I don't really know who else would be back and writing on this... Anyway.**

**Vacation's over, work is beginning. Let's do this!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Thirty-Five: Explanations-**

"You… are kidding me, yes?" Shinobu asked hesitantly. "Magic cannot be an actual thing. It is the stuff of stories, of fairy tales, of childhood dreams, not of reality."

Almost two hours after the Food War of the Silver Dragon, the six girls and Mr. Olsen sat around the booth behind the main part of the restaurant, cradling cups of oolong and chamomile tea, the steam from each rising gently into the air and twirling around the bulb hanging above the table.

Yan had asked Mira Lin to mind the shop as she explained the multiversal truths that had twisted their way into her life and her granddaughter's life and her granddaughter's friend's lives. With the Guardians' added adventures from the last two years, the story had taken a good while to spin, the Chinese grandmother intricately weaving details and mental pictures together into a tapestry unlike any other.

Mr. Olsen, though he had been hanging around the Guardians for the last few days, knew little of their exploits, so the story-telling experience was just as much for him as it was for Shinobu. And, unsurprisingly, he was just a little less flabbergasted as the small Japanese girl.

"_Matt_ did all of that?" he asked, deaf to Shinobu's inquiries. "_My_ Matt? Matt _Olsen_? The same kid who wouldn't let me kill a black widow when he was six?"

"Miranda's a lot bigger than a black widow," Will tried to explain, seeing the disbelief enter the man's eyes. "And a lot more dangerous. Most of what he did was for defense, of innocent civilians or of Kandrakar or Earth itself."

Hay Lin took over on Shinobu's part. "Stories and fairy tales had to come from _somewhere_, 'Obu," she reasoned. "And kids' dreams… they're magic themselves! Don't you remember, when you were little, during Christmas or something, when your chest suddenly grew really really big and you felt almost completely weightless, when happiness just basically exploded out of you and you completely forgot everything but that feeling, when your arms and legs turned to jelly that was somehow keeping in one place and the only thing you could feel was the joy and the feeling that your mouth was about to stretch it's limit from smiling?" Shinobu grew quiet, fingering a bracelet on her wrist. "_That's_ kid's magic. It loses power for most people as they get older, but their memories are just as filled with it as they were. You, me, the rest of us, we're just lucky enough to have a different magic too."

The small, blue stoned band wrapped around her wrist seemed to garner all of her attention. "I… I remember little of my childhood," she told the girls. "Mostly just… happiness. Elation, really. Could that…?"

Yan Lin arrived with another pot of tea and nodded sagely at the Japanese girl. "Yes, Shinobu," she said. "Those destined to hold magic at a later time in life are more filled with the wonder of childhood. The fact that you remember little else but that same elation means that you _have_ another magic—and probably a strong one to boot.

"My guess is that you are among the rare few on this planet with roots in magic." The entire table blinked at Yan Lin in confusion. "There has always been magic on Earth, but always hidden. That is why legends of dragons, fairies, elves and trolls, are just legend here while they are well-known fact on worlds like Meridian and Kandrakar.

"Almost every family has some form of magic line tracing back to ancient times. Hay Lin, yours and mine are more apparent than others, as our family has almost always held a position in the Guardians. If you follow your ancestries, girls, you will also find places and people filled with myth and mysticism."

Yan Lin looked over at Shinobu. "It is not often that people retain magic so strong that it begins affecting the world around them, as it is for you, Shinobu. Both sides of your family must have some form of magic lineage, far down the line at the very least."

Shinobu bit her lip and looked nervously at the girls around her. "But… magic should be impossible."

"Do I hear a proposal for a demonstration?" Irma asked, cupping her ear. "Okay, 'Obu, but only because you insisted." Shinobu opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off. "_Water!_"

At the brunette's will, a stream of glinting, silvery water rose from the spout of the teapot, dancing through the air like a dancer's ribbon, directed by Irma's twirling index finger. Mr. Olsen and Shinbou's mouths dropped in unison, creating matching 'o's of surprise and disbelief.

Slowly and with much flair, Irma let the water cut off at the pot and drop noiselessly into her teacup, filling it back up. She picked up the white china and downed it in one gulp, smiling widely and sighing contentedly once it was all gone.

"You…"

"Water Guardian," Will explained, pointing to Irma. "Air Guardian, Earth Guardian, Fire Guardian," she continued, moving her finger to Hay Lin, Cornelia, and Taranee, "and Quintessence Guardian." Will pointed to her own chest and smiled widely, hopefully comforting the girl.

"That was…" Mr. Olsen trailed off, his eyes wide.

"Amazing!" Shinobu finished for him. She sat forward in her chair, both palms on the table in excitement that she rarely had in her life anymore. "Am I able to do that?"

Yan Lin smiled and rested a hand on Shinobu's shoulder. "Calm yourself, child," she told her gently. "I do not think it is an elemental power that resides within you. But if my hunch is correct, yours is just as important." She waved a hand over to the singular man at the table. "Mr. Olsen is the father of one of the Regents of Earth, a young boy named Matthew. However, five years ago, during a business trip to Taiwan, he fell into what people then called a portal, a hole between dimensions. Mr. Olsen was sucked from his place on Earth, with his son, wife, and father-in-law, and dropped onto a jungle world called Zamballa.

"There, he survived so he might have the chance of seeing Matthew again… and possibly the girl his son fell in love with," Yan Lin added with a nod to a suddenly red Will. "However, here, he was declared missing and then dead, and the family was giving up hope of seeing him again.

"Then, last Friday, a new form of a portal, called a fold, opened up right in front of Mr. Olsen and allowed him to return to Earth and to Matthew."

Mr. Olsen spoke up, taking the reins from there. "I found myself in the woods outside Heatherfield," he explained, "and I saw a girl with black hair, wearing a white shirt and a black skirt leave as soon as I arrived." He angled his head to meet her eyes, which seemed very interested in the tabletop. "I have a feeling it was you who brought me back."

Shinobu glanced around the group and put her hands in her lap. "I…"

"Shinobu," Taranee said, pulling her hands from her lap and placing hers on top, creating a pile of palms and fingers on the table. "It's okay. If it was you, and if it was an accident, we understand. Our first trials with our powers weren't very… great?"

"To put it mildly," Irma added dryly. "Didn't you make a cactus the size of a car, Corny?"

Cornelia scowled and crossed her arms.

Shinobu smiled hesitantly. Mr. Olsen caught her gaze once more. "If it was you," he said carefully, "I'm extremely grateful. You brought me back to my son, and I don't know how I can ever repay you."

The girl swallowed. "Y…Yes. It was me, but I didn't mean to. I was walking in the woods, wishing I could be anywhere but there, and the forest made me think of a jungle, and then there was this light, and… You should not be grateful for a mistake."

Mr. Olsen scooted closer to the girl and tilted her head up. "I don't care. When I was your age, my grandfather told me that there aren't any mistakes. There's a plan underneath everything. He might've meant it differently than this, but I think it still applies." To Shinobu's surprise, the man pulled her into a hug that nearly smothered her. The girls sitting nearby 'awww'ed appropriately, smiling.

"Your grandfather was a wise man, Mr. Olsen," Yan Lin told him as he pulled back. Shinobu awkwardly rubbed her arm. She hadn't been hugged for a good long while, especially not by a father. She forgot how… safe it felt. To be hugged by a Dad. Strange, that it was someone else's Dad, but still. Safe. "And I do believe we might have solved another mystery."

All eyes turned to the old woman. "Another mystery?" Hay Lin repeated. "And that is…?"

Yan Lin smiled at Shinobu. "You will need training," she said, "to rein in the magic you are accidentally releasing so wildly. It may have adverse effects on those around you, especially if they're coming through your folds."

Mr. Olsen's eyes widened. "You mean…?"

"_Shinobu_ is the reason you're invisible!" Will claimed.

Shinbou frowned. "But he is _not_ invisible," she responded. "You and I can see him clearly."

"Because everyone in this room possesses, or has once possessed, magic beyond their childhoods," Yan Lin nodded. "But if a normal person met Mr. Olsen on the street… well, they _wouldn't_ meet. He is invisible and silent to those around him. He plainly doesn't exist."

Shinobu turned, shocked to the man who she'd compared to a father less than 10 seconds ago. "_I_… did that?" she asked, horrified.

Mr. Olsen smiled ruefully. "Apparently," he replied. She opened her mouth to start a barrage of apologies, but he held up a hand to silence her. "Don't worry, Shinobu. It's fine. In fact, it was probably for the best. We'd have a hard time explaining why and how I've returned to Earth to my father-in-law when Matt doesn't remember anything."

"Can I fix it?" she asked urgently, turning to Yan Lin.

"In time, yes," she replied with a nod. "Not only do you need training, but Mr. Olsen has asked us to put off fixing _him_ until we've fixed his son."

"What happened to Matt?" she asked, looking towards Will, who had taken her turn at staring at the table. "Will?"

Will sighed. "It began on Earth Day…"

* * *

**And further explanations for Shinobu come.**

**If anyone is wondering where to go for a short vacation, I highly recommend Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. That's where I was for the last week. There's this awesome Busch Gardens there (I rode ALL FOUR of the Fearsome Four: The Legend of the Loch Ness, the Alpengeist, the Griffon, and the Apollo's Chariot) and then there's the US's largest living museum, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown, and the BEACH (I still have sand in my hair) and then DC is only a couple hours away.**

**We stayed at a place called the Williamsburg Plantation. Not bad, if you ignore the HIGHLY OVERPRICED INTERNET SERVICE. We couldn't afford it, so I just settled for glaring at the front desk when I passed. I think I scared several minimum-wagers...**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	36. Chapter 36: Sewer

**Heya**

**Sorry this is kinda later in the day than normal. Woke up at _five_ this morning with stiff knees. Don't ask me why. Last time this happened, I got tendonitis from some bad meds. Hopefully it's not that. But since my Dad asked me and my sisters to clean the entire house, I've had to hobble excruciatingly slowly back and forth.**

**Anyway. Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H. and Flash.**

* * *

**-Thirty-Six: Sewers-**

"Does… anyone else think that this is completely insane?"

Nigel and Matt both snorted at Eric's question, wincing appropriately just afterwards. To snort meant to inhale sharply, and if it hadn't been a pure necessity to life itself, inhaling would be the very last thing they would be attempting.

"Course it's insane," Nigel replied, picking a sneaker up and shaking it slightly before stepping forward once more. "In case you haven't noticed, a lot of $hit has been insane lately. Sane people don't start flying."

"Or running so fast the Flash would be jealous," Matt added with a smirk, being careful to breathe through his mouth and not his nose. He wouldn't be able to get the taste of the air out of his mouth for weeks, but he thought it better than having to live with the stench for however long they would be down there.

After Al had fainted, Eric had revealed another Protector in his hands, a bit larger than his fellows were. The two of them had tried to run for it the second they saw the humans' faces, biting each hand respectively—the darker-skinned one had giggled at Nigel's choice swearword.

The pair of little beings had almost made it back to the sewer line. At the very last second before they completely disappeared from sight, Matt had used two more infinitesimal forces to drag them back to the surface.

Needless to say, they had been amazed. Not just that a human could have that kind of power, but also when Nigel gently picked up Al and put her down next to them. They apparently weren't used to humans being all-too careful with Protectors.

It was at that point that Al had woken up and marveled at the two members of her once-thought extinct species. Once introductions had been made—the larger, blonde Protector was Liam and the smaller, darker one, Tro—explanations had been demanded on both sides.

Liam had almost as short a temper as Al.

"Yeah, but, being led through a really disgusting sewer by two Protectors, which we thought were gone except for Al, to some kind of Protector City hidden underneath Heatherfield that's inhabited by Protectors, who we thought were nature hippies and not city-people reaches a new level of insane for me."

Nigel put his lower lip out in thought. "Lyndon's got a point," he admitted. "This is pretty weird, even taking in everything that's happened to us since Saturday."

"I guess," Matt consented. Honestly, he didn't find it all that strange. He wasn't sure why, for most people even the realization of Protectors would set their worlds on ear, but it seemed almost… normal to him. Just another day in Heatherfield, USA.

"If you guys are done wondering how your sorry lives led to this point," Al commented dryly, her voice echoing several times around the rounded sewer line. She was walking next to Tro and Liam, on a small piped that ran along the very top of the ceiling. Since she was in close proximity to more Protectors, the magic she'd collected in solitude was spreading out towards the rest of them. She, Tro, and Liam were even able to use small sparks of golden magic as miniature flashlights.

Matt, Nigel, and Eric had to make do with the penlight and laser that had been inside Nigel's jacket and Eric's pocket.

"Why were you guys in the forest?" Tro asked suddenly.

The boys looked up in surprise. "You know, we could ask you two the same question," Al retaliated from his side. "If Protectors really have started living in cities, why would they come over into the parks?"

"Uh, well…" Tro turned the color of a beet, chuckled nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck.

Liam rolled his blue eyes and glared suspiciously at the girl. "We asked you first," he replied in a frigid voice.

Al narrowed her eyes at him before turning amicably towards Tro again. "Ask Matt down there. We just followed him into that place."

"Which one's Matt?" Tro asked, leaning down to gaze in wonder at the three giants below them. It had taken a very strict mother to rein in his Protector's curiosity, which seemed to be heavier on him than most.

"We have ears, you know," Nigel commented, smirking. Tro flushed slightly, still nothing compared to the blush he'd presented to Al.

"I'm Matt," he said, looking up at the Protector. "Matt Olsen. That's where I go when I need to think and, well, I needed to think over a couple things."

"Your turn," Al challenged Liam. "Why were _you_ two there?"

Liam scowled at the girl before shoving his hands into his pockets. Unlike his fellow Protectors, Liam wasn't dressed in homemade clothes—no leaves, like Al, or newsprint, like Tro. Instead, he was in what seemed to be clothes like the ones humans wore a few feet above their heads. Jeans and a t-shirt.

"We caught wind of a rumor a few weeks ago," he admitted, grumbling, as if he didn't want to reveal his reasons to her. "That one of the nature Protectors had survived whatever was wiping 'em out."

Tro smiled shyly at Al. "Apparently the rumor held water, huh?" Al blushed for a moment, not meeting anyone's eyes, before her own pair grew huge.

"You guys know that my people've disappeared?" she asked. "How? Do you know who did it?"

Tro's smile melted off of his face. "We know cause it's happening to us, too," he replied, watching his feet. "Smaller scale, of course, there's still plenty of us, but… my grandma vanished a few weeks ago."

The boys and Al grew quiet, as if in respect for the grandmother Tro had lost. Al was reminded of her own family, every member gone because of the same reason… whatever that reason was.

Liam nodded sadly. "A good few of our friends've gone missing," he explained quietly. "All Protectors, and none of them have ever returned."

Eric frowned at his words. "What do you mean, 'all Protectors'?" he wondered. "What else is there?"

Liam shrugged. "Most of the settlement is made of Protectors," he continued, "but there's a lot of weird things going on on the surface, boys."

"Don't have to tell _us_," Nigel muttered, earning Matt's elbow in his ribs.

"A few giants have woken up shrunk down to Protector's size. The city welcomed them, because they had nowhere else to turn. A few more are from separate worlds and found themselves trapped on Earth from something called…"

"…Folds?"

The group quieted, looking down at Matt. The boy was frowning and holding his right temple in his hand, his fingers threaded through his hair. "Yes," Liam replied, confused. "How did you know that?"

Al shook her head. "The boys down there have severe cases of amnesia, not to mention craziness." Tro smiled and looked away to hide it. "Nige and Eric can't remember any of the day before yesterday, starting from when the sun was a third of the way across the sky and ending when it set. Matt has flashbacks from even before then, so a big bit of his life was erased."

"If it's got something to do with folds, then he must've been on other worlds before," Tro spoke up.

Suddenly, Liam leapt from the pipe and landed squarely on Matt's shoulders. The boy froze so he wouldn't lose his balance and didn't flinch as Liam clambered up to look him directly in the eye.

"Which world's've you been on?" he demanded shortly.

"Uh-I…"

"Arkhanta? The world of Stones? _Have you been to the Fast World_?"

"Um… I don't think…?"

Liam grabbed a few strands of inky black hair that had been falling into Matt's eyes. "You've gotta tell me!" he shouted, almost seeming desperate. "The _Fast World!_ Does it ring a bell? Tell me!"

Matt blinked in surprise at the volume of the shout coming from the small man. "No!" he yelped. "I-I've never heard of a Fast World in my life! It's not ringing any bells or anything."

Liam dropped his arms. The boys stared as the small blonde's shoulders drooped heavily and a tired sigh escaped his lips. "Are you sure?" he asked once more. "What about Mariko? You ever heard that name before?"

Matt shook his head again. "No. I'm… sorry."

"Why?" Nigel asked. "Who's Mariko?"

Liam climbed to the top of Matt's head and leapt back onto the pipe, brushing past a confused Al and a sympathetic Tro, walking down the metal towards the city.

"The Fast World is where I'm from," he replied, not stopping and making the others rush ahead to catch up with him. "I fell through a fold almost a year ago. It was man-made. A girl named Mariko had been researching interdimensional travel. She and I…" Liam sighed, shaking his head. "A few months ago, there was an accident. A… _horrible_ accident. The fold she was building exploded while it was being formed. The magic went _everywhere_…

"When I woke up, I was this size," he continued, after a moment of silence. "I was a little taller than you three before. And Mariko… Mariko was gone."

* * *

**On the next chapter, this part ends and the next begins. The end is in sight, my friends. It's still a while away, but is in sight.**

**I tried to incorporate the comic-story of Liam and Mariko into this one as best as it would fit. If you see any irregularities, then just PM me and I'll try and fix 'em.**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	37. Chapter 37: A Proposition

**Hey!**

**Here's the next chapter, the final one in Part IV! Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Thirty-Seven: A Proposition-**

Since the city was planned to be immense when it was first planned, many parts of it seemed a little big in proportion to its actual size. The park was one—it was big now, but the planners figured that once Heatherfield grew to the size they expected it to be, it would be miniscule in comparison.

Another was the sewer system underground. The founders had figured that, if a city would hold so many people, it would need a large system of sewers to get rid of everything those people… produced.

Most pipes were nearly ten feet in diameter and even had small sidewalks next to the canals that held the rank material. The ones the boys had walked down first hadn't had those sidewalks, so they were forced to wade through ankle deep.

However, soon the branch of pipes that reached across the park had to end somewhere, and that somewhere was an immense, concrete cavern. Three pipes converged in the room, their one sewer line and two storm drains, each ending in a kind of river embedded in concrete for a few feet before cascading down into a trio of waterfalls that dropped almost a hundred feet into the bottom of the cavern, where, underneath the small lake it had made over the years, an immense grated drain took in everything that was thrown down.

It was the point of entrance for Protector City. A small hole chipped into the wall above the sewer drain was big enough for Al, Tro, and Liam to slip into, but Matt, Eric, and Nigel were left outside and told to wait while Al was introduced to the city and explanations were made. The boys sat on the edge of their rived, their legs hanging off the dry sidewalk of concrete and over the swirling spiral of watery doom.

"Geez, never thought anything this big could be underneath Heatherfield," Matt heard Eric say, and he had to agree. "How tall do you think…?"

"At least a hundred feet," Nigel replied. "You think I could climb over to one of the other drains?"

Both Matt and Eric turned to him. Besides being extremely high in the air, each other storm drain and little river was at minimum 20 feet from each other and had soaking wet edges that, if a person had even managed to latch onto after performing the miracle of just getting close on one jump, would let them slip and fall to their deaths.

"…Yup, you're insane," Eric nodded. "Completely and totally 100% crazy. Why isn't he already in an asylum?" he asked Matt.

"They never caught him."

Nigel chuckled and turned his eyes to the distance between him and the closest storm drain. The boys had had to sit still for almost a half hour now, and without at least walking to disperse some of Nigel's newfound extra energy, the boy was becoming a little hyper. His fingers tapped a beat on the slightly damp concrete as his green eyes flicked from one thing to the next, his legs swinging faster than either Eric's or Matt's.

"I think I could make it," he said, looking over the distance.

"I think you'll die."

"Nige," Matt said calmly, "seriously. You won't be able to make that jump or survive the fall. What'll we tell your parents? And how do you think it'll look if one of the Knights dies the first week he's got his powers?"

Nigel humphed and crossed his arms. "I still think I could… hey!" A wide grin spread across his face, both it and his eyes tinged with hyperactive madness. Eric and Matt shared a worried glance. "I've got it! Matt, if you change us, I might have at least a better chance. And even if I miss, Eric'd be able to…"

"_#ell_ no," Eric told him, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "Absolutely not. I am _not_ flying _a hundred feet in the air_ above a watery spiral of _death_ to save your skinny, crazy a$$."

Matt had to agree. "I dunno, Nige, that sounds like misuse of our powers," he admitted. "We should be using them for important stuff, like if that guy who's taking the Protectors comes back."

_Wait a minute…_ Matt's mind immediately went into overdrive as an idea evolved inside his brain.

"C'mon!" Nigel groaned and fell back against the concrete. "You said yourself we need practice!" he added, throwing his hands into the air. "And it's not misuse if it's for practice. Plus, storm drain water is cleaner than sewer water, so we can wash off!" _That_ prospect sounded very good to the other two boys. "And, and… and I'm so immensely bored that I'll eventually just leap off the side just to end my boredom!"

Eric snickered at the image but thought it over. "I still don't know…"

"Oooh!" Nigel sat up, another thought coming to mind. "And if Tro and Liam tell the rest of the Protectors that Al came with the Knights of Earth, they'll probably come out and be expecting to see _them_, not three kids in stinky, ratty clothes! We represent part of Earth's magic, shouldn't we look good for it?"

Matt nodded and even Eric chewed it over for only a moment before consenting. "If only to get me out of these," he said, motioning to his ruined, once-white shirt and jeans. "I'm gonna have to burn them tonight."

"We can have a bonfire in my backyard," Nigel suggested, clapping him on the back. "Matt?"

Matt looked up form his thoughts and smiled. "Okay, fine." He reached into his soggy, smelly shirt and pulled the Heart of Earth from around his neck. With a toss rivaling most baseball pitchers, he threw it to the center of the room and called out, "Heart!"

Three flashes of bright light later, the young teenagers that had once occupied the cavern were replaced by the men that made up the Knights of Earth, standing where they had once been sitting.

"Nice," Nigel said as the Heart floated back to Matt and rested on his chest. "Okay, ready, Eric?"

Eric's eyes bugged. "Wait, what? I told you, I'm not going to…!"

Nigel ignored him and jogged to the other side of the sidewalk, kneeling in a sprinter's position, his eyes set on the other drain. In a bright red streak and an exhilarated shout, Nigel took off and leapt.

Matt and Eric stared as the boy all but flew across the chasm, his arms and legs kicking wildly, as if that would get him further. Amazingly, Nigel crossed the 20 feet of emptiness, even if only barely, grabbing onto the edge with his fingers.

"Nigel!" both his friends cried, seeing the boy hanging precariously off the concrete.

"Don't worry guys, I got this!" Nigel claimed, grinning over his shoulder. With a grunt, he tried to pull himself up, kicking his legs on instinct.

"Who-whoa!"

The slippery wet edge hadn't allowed Nigel to make a good grip, and the boy lost his handholds, falling from the edge with a piercing scream.

"Nigel!" Unable to do anything, Matt just knelt at the edge, watching the redhead fall. Eric, however, _was_ able to do something to save his friend.

"I'm coming, Nige!" he yelled, running and diving off the end of their river.

Eric's eyes narrowed as the wind blew his hair back and pushed the glasses all three of them wore against his nose. Nigel was a few feet below him but was gaining speed fast—he'd hit the water before he had a chance of grabbing him.

A part of him saw the swirling blue and brown spiral far below them and a pang of fear ran through his body, memories of a Hawaiian Observatory flashing through his mind…

_No. Save Nigel. Forget that._

More instinctually than anything else, Eric put his hands on top of one another and extended his arms above his head, pressing his biceps to his ears in a streamline position he'd learned at his old swim classes.

Nigel's falling shape began growing larger as he steadily grew closer until…

"I gotcha, buddy!" Eric said, hooking his arms underneath Nigel's shoulder. Nigel stopped screaming and looked up, his terrified face replaced by a grateful one.

"Thanks, dude! Now pull up!"

"Oh, uh, right!"

Eric closed his eyes focused on the weightless feeling again and felt it appear much more quickly in his core. _UP!_ He ordered himself, and slowly, he felt the wind that had been pushing against him switch directions.

When he opened his eyes, they grew wide. Matt's relieved and happy face was coming closer to them as they rose through the air slowly, coming closer and closer to the edge.

When they reached it, he hovered a foot above the ground and gently let Nigel drop onto the concrete, himself staying in the air. Matt clapped his oldest friend on the back comfortingly and grinned proudly at his newest friend.

"Good job, Eric," he said, nodding.

"Thanks. You okay, Nige?" Nigel grinned and nodded. "Good." Eric landed easily, narrowing his eyes at him. He walked forward and jabbed his chest with a finger. "Cause if you _ever_ try anything like that ever again, I swear to God I will _kill_ you, Ashcroft."

"Nice to see a bunch of friends can treat each other so well." The boys looked up and saw Al standing on top of the drain, her arms crossed. "Never took you as the suicidal kind, Nigel."

"Suicidal? No!" Nigel claimed, shaking his head. "Thrill-seeking is the word I use."

"Where's Liam and Tro?" Matt wondered.

"They're coming. Why?" she asked in reply.

A smirk grew across Matt's face—the same one he'd had just before turning the rain intangible. Nigel and Eric both took a step back, now wise to that particular look.

"I have a proposition for them."

"Are you freaking _insane_?" Tro, Al, and Liam screeched as one once hearing Matt's plan.

Nigel nodded. "I'm starting to think so," he admitted, looking at Matt oddly.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Look, it's simple. Whoever is kidnapping Protectors is obviously tracking them by magic. There's no other way of finding them. So if we bring a couple Protectors together in one place, their magic radar or something'll go off and they'll come running."

"And then we die!" Liam continued.

"No, then you don't die," Matt said. "You guys aren't defenseless anymore. You have _us_." Nigel and Eric gaped at him. "We'll be able to fight off whatever they send to capture you… and maybe we can figure something out about them."

"You can't use Protectors as _bait_, though!"

"You won't be in any danger," Matt promised him. "All you have to do is hide nearby. Once they're there, you can run into the sewers or something and we'll handle the rest. All we need is their _truck_ and we'll be able to find out who sent them. If they're the kind of bad guys stupid enough to spout out their plans, we can even get _why_ they're after you guys."

They still seemed hesitant. Matt sighed. He didn't want to use this tactic, but… "Guys, think about the friends and family you've already lost. You have a chance to help find out what _happened_ to them, why they were taken and by who." The three beings grew silent. "These guys took your _loved ones_. Only the lowest of the low goes after family and friends in a battle. Don't tell me you don't want to try and take those suckers down before they can steal any more Protectors."

Liam looked away from Matt's gaze. "We'll… ask the council in the city."

Twenty minutes later, the three Protectors returned from the city. Al sighed and walked forward, the most comfortable around the boys.

"The bigheaded prats…"

"She means the council," Tro spoke up.

"Whatever, they don't want to help." Matt sagged a little. He'd thought for sure they could… "But I do."

The Knights looked up, surprised. Al looked at them with a green-eyed, fiery glare that seemed to be aimed at whatever entity had stolen her entire life from under her. "My grandma told me when I was younger that no matter how small a Protector is, they have to be big in courage, because when it comes down to it, if they have to fight, they're not just fighting for themselves. We're fighting for our community and the Earth whose magic we Protect."

Tro nodded and stepped up next to her. "My mom told me the same thing." He kicked his head backwards towards the hole. "_They_ might not understand it, but unless someone does something, eventually our population's gonna start shrinking faster too. It's our turn to do something. We've gotta be big in bravery."

Liam crossed his arms. "I say you're all insane," he added, "but… not many people are out looking for magic in Heatherfield. One of them is the company that Mariko disappeared from, and if this gets me closer to her again, I'll do anything."

Matt smiled gratefully at the three brave Protectors. "Thanks guys. You won't regret this."

"We'd better not," Liam grumbled.

While walking back to the surface, Nigel and Eric pulled Matt closer. "_How_ exactly are we supposed to protect them?" Nigel demanded. "We got our powers three days ago! We don't even know how to fight!"

Eric shook his head. "I'm not even totally sure I wanna try flying again," he added.

Matt looked them directly in the eye. When he'd told them of his plan while Al was retrieving Tro and Liam, they'd had the same protests as they had now. "That's why we practice," he told them.

Both boys froze in their tracks.

"Practice?"

* * *

**Next chapter starts Part V!**

_**~Tibki**_


	38. Chapter 38: Today is

**Hey everyone!**

**Gotta make this fast, my Dad wants me to clean my room and there's a cat laying beside me and laundry covering the floor. Kind of a filler chapter today, but I think you'll like it.**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**Part IV:**

**Thirty-Eight.**

Tuesday Morning:

Today was one of those miracles of fate. It was one of those few days whatever deity ran the universe decided to smile down upon one particular person, group, or place and give them a nice day laden with the luck everyone needs in some point in their life.

The sun rose from the east, clear against a red and purple cloudless sky, for the first time since Saturday. It's rays traveled millions of miles across the emptiness and bleakness of space onto the city of Heatherfield, reaching into every window on sight and gently caressing every face in bed with almost motherly soft, warm fingers.

It was one of those rare days when not even teenagers minded getting up before 10 AM, because who disliked being woken by a gentle and warm sun on your face? They staggered into their kitchens looking for breakfast and discovered a great surprise, each of them, that made their days that much better without it even being an hour long yet.

Their parents stood and told them that due to some kind of flooding problem, Sheffield Institute would be closed for the day.

It was a snow day without the freezing cold and biting wind. It was summer vacation without the worry of reading lists. It was a weekend without thought of a pop quiz come Monday. For some, it was a chance to finish up on the work they hadn't been able to do the night before. For others, it was a rare day of relaxation.

For two particular groups of students, it was the most perfect timing fate had ever given them.

'Fate', of course, being a brunette water Guardian who'd gone to the Institute late that night with the thought that her friend could use a day without the pressures of school.

Matt was up at the crack of dawn—a habit Mr. Olsen wasn't sure where he'd picked up—and was gathering assorted things from around his room and the house into a duffel bag. The father watched curiously, sipping his cup of coffee, as his son placed the last thing in the bag—a collection of tree branch cuts from a pile of firewood outside, not one more than two inches in width—and hefted it over his shoulder.

"C'mon, Mr. H.," the boy said as the dormouse leapt onto the bag and climbed up the straps, settling on his shoulder as usual. "We've gotta wake up the guys before we meet Al and the others for practice."

Mr. Olsen's eyes nearly popped from his skull. He choked on his coffee in surprise and spat it back into his cup, scowling in disgust at the backwash.

Mr. Huggles chattered agreeably before looking pointedly behind his master, directly at the older man. Mr. Olsen nodded and turned to dress up properly.

How could he have forgotten to tell the girls about Al? They were obviously experts on all things magical, and that tiny flying girl was nothing if not magic.

He was too angry about them not telling him about the Shagon Saga, he remembered. And after Yan Lin had told him, he was too shocked to remember, especially when Shinobu came knocking.

Mr. Olsen sighed. He needed to learn to prioritize. The past was the past. It may be tied in with what happened now, but his first focus had to be the _present_. Once that was through with, he could find out what had happened to his son over the last few years—but only afterwards.

Even without remembering that he was a Regent, Matt had gone and screwed himself into magic once more. And brought Nigel and Eric into it as well. He was never going to hear the end of it from Taranee and Hay Lin. And Will.

As Mr. Olsen ran from the house into the beautiful day outside, a single thought ran through his head.

_Today's gonna be a toughie._

Yan and Mira Lin woke before dawn, as usual. It was a habit picked up from years of battles waiting on their minds—they could never wake fast enough. The second it was lighter outside than it was at midnight, they were awake and cooking that day's meals for the restaurant.

Mira headed for the main room of the _Dragon_ to take the chairs off the tables and set them back at their tables, refilling the dispensers and putting down fresh placemats. Yan Lin stayed in the kitchen, making a pot of tea while the old stoves warmed.

The elder Chinese woman shuffled to and from the cupboards twice, holding a pair of cups and saucers each time. Finally she grew tired of that and stood next to the boiling pot of water, checking the room carefully before extending a hand towards the still-open doors.

In a gust of wind, three more sets of cups and saucer flew out of their places on the shelf, crossing the room without any hands to hold them up, and settled right side up on the counter next to the ex-Guardian.

Panting slightly but smiling, Yan Lin crossed the room herself one last time and closed the cupboard doors, returning to pour the water into the cups. The water would probably be cold by the time the others arose, but that was their loss—that fancy machine her son had bought, hanging by the refrigerator, the microwave would make it hot for them again—they should wake earlier anyway. The human race was a day-walking species. To live life to the fullest, they should arise with the sun and rest with…

China shattered against the old tile flooring as Yan Lin's fingers suddenly grew numb. A certain air was passing through Heatherfield, she could feel it—it was one of her eternal gifts. It was an air laced with excitement and worry, anger and confidence, anxiety and hatred, sadness and self-loathing.

She knew when that taste was in the air. She knew it all too well. Before now, she hadn't given it much thought, as every time she felt it, the Guardians were ready to join the imminent battle on the horizon.

Yan Lin had been through enough scrapes herself to know when a fight was coming. Even if the hairs on the back of her neck, hairs that had once been cropped short, weren't standing, that air told her that there was one coming.

And the Guardians knew nothing of it.

Yan Lin ran from the kitchen, not even bothering to clean the broken china or explain to Mira as she came rushing to find out what was happing to her 'twin'.

She had to wake her granddaughter. Hay Lin would alert the others and they could use whatever time they had left to prepare and find anything out they could.

But one thing was for sure. Despite the easygoing feel of the morning…

_Today is going to be a toughie._

"…Matt?" a bleary-eyed Mrs. Ashcroft asked when she opened her door early in the morning. After waking her son gently and telling him the news about school, she'd been planning on heading back to her warm and comfortable bed, not answering the door to her son's very best and oldest friend, and… "Oh, hello. Who are you?"

Eric nodded sleepily at the redheaded woman that had to be Nigel's mom. "Eric Lyndon, ma'am. I'm a friend of Matt and Nige's."

"Oh. How nice to meet you."

Matt spoke up, the only one with clear eyes and a fully-woken mind in the group—besides Huggles, of course. "Mrs. Ashcroft, can we come in? We've got early band practice with Nige."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "This early?" she asked. "Most of Heatherfield isn't awake yet! And where are your instruments?"

The boy smiled widely. She wasn't interrogating him, but she was worried about her boy—understandably. Mrs. Ashcroft already had a son in prison and she wanted to make sure she was raising Nigel right. Matt patted the duffel bag gently, a slightly metallic _thump_ coming through the cloth.

"I've got Eric's sax here," he explained, "and the rest of our instruments are over at my garage. We're trying to spend as much time as we can fixing up the music, since Dom moved and we don't have sheets for the saxophone."

Mrs. Ashcroft nodded and smiled. "Of course. Could you wait one second, and then you can come inside." Matt nodded and stepped back, pulling Eric with him as she pulled the door shut.

Eric frowned. "Why'd she…?"

Matt shook his head in response. "That's not my story to tell," he replied. "Nige'll tell you soon, though, don't worry."

Two minutes later, the door opened once more and Mrs. Ashcroft motioned for them to come into the house with a welcoming smile.

The boys stepped inside. The living room seemed to made of pieces of furniture accumulated over the years, with the best effort to make a single style from a small budget. It didn't look that bad, especially with the multitude of colorful flowers on the tables and windowsills.

The biggest problem Eric could see was the large, fairly obvious body-shape hidden underneath a throw blanket on the couch. A beefy arm hung out from underneath it, almost touching the floor.

But Matt didn't give it a second glance, so he decided not to bring it up.

"You know where Nigel's room is," Mrs. Ashcroft smiled at Matt. "Don't make too much noise, okay boys?"

Matt grinned slightly deviously. "Of course not, Mrs. A."

Eric followed him up the stairs and into a room labeled 'Ross and Nigel' in red paint. A little thought told him that Ross was the brother Nigel had told him about, who had used parking meters as bull's-eyes and was currently in prison for it.

The room had obviously held two boys once. There was a bunkbed directly in front of the door, the lower bed made cleanly and untouched and the upper one holding their target redhead. Papers and clothing were the flooring of choice, scattered over the carpet until it was almost completely invisible. A bass stood to one wall with a table covered in sheet music and a tuner. Pictures were tacked onto the wall with tape and thumbtacks, mostly of a younger Nigel and an older redhead Eric assumed was Ross.

Matt, all too used to the complete chaos of the room that was Nigel's, set his duffel down and climbed on top of the bunkbed, putting his head close to his friend's.

"!"

Matt poked his friend with each 'Nige', for effect, and grinned when the boy yelped and shot upright, banging his head against the low ceiling.

"Ow!" Nigel doubled over and gripped his throbbing cranium, peaking an eye open to see a sniggering Eric and a smirking Matt. "…the _#ell_? Matt?"

"That was payback, my friend," Matt told him shortly.

"Payback my a$$, Olsen, c'mere!"

Eric started cackling in laughter as Nigel shot out of his bed and started running after Matt, who had already retreated into the hall.

_Today's gonna be good._

* * *

**So begins Part IV.**

**Better chapter tomorrow, promise!**

_**~Tibki**_


	39. Chapter 39: Trouble

**Hey!**

**Gotta make this fast. Driver's Ed teach on his way and I'm not out of my footie pajamas yet. Dad's gonna MURDER me!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H., Flash, Scooby-Doo.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**-Thirty-Nine: Trouble-**

"So where's the munchkins?" Nigel asked, turning to walk backwards so he could see his friends' faces.

After another, less eventful, bike ride to the noticeably un-cratered heather field they were coming to know so well, Eric was panting heavily and even Matt was sweating hard. Of course, _he_ was carrying the mysterious black duffel bag and neither Eric nor Nigel knew how heavy that thing was.

"I wouldn't… call them that… to their faces, Ashcroft," Eric told him with a reluctant smile. "Al might try to gouge your eyes out."

Matt snickered. "They stayed at Al's old settlement a couple hundred yards that way," he explained, pointing towards the rising sun. "Tro and Liam said they might take a little longer than usual to come—city Protectors need time to get used to the woods, you know?"

Eric groaned and limped over to the treeline, collapsing against one of the trunks and taking rhythmic, deep breaths with a hand on his chest to try and slow his erratic heartbeat.

Nigel smirked at the boy. "You need to work out a little more, Lyndon. We'll get creamed in a fight if you faint."

He received a burning glare in reply. "_Flying_ doesn't mean exercise, Ashcroft," he spat. "'Sides, if you weren't The Flash's illegitimate son, you'd be right here next to me trying to buy Matt's steroids off of him."

"Hey!" Matt yelped. "I do _not_ take steroids! At least… I don't _think_ I did," he admitted much more quietly.

"The Flash's illegit son," Nigel was musing. "Awesome. Wouldn't that be cool?" Matt smirked and shook his head.

Eric frowned. "What about _your_ dad, though?"

The easy-going feel of the field almost immediately disappeared, fizzling into nothing like an unimpressive Fourth of July display. Matt winced painfully, Eric's first clue that he'd said something wrong. The second clue was Nigel's tone when he did speak up—it was cold enough that, had it been tangible, the stream would've frozen solid just from being too close.

"My _father_'s a bum," Nigel told him dryly. The frigidness wasn't meant for the boy—it was meant for the man they were speaking of, and served as a decent warning for Eric not to touch the subject again soon. "I'd much rather be The Flash's kid."

Almost immediately, Nigel's normal countenance was back, sliding neatly over the shamefully disgusted look like a new picture slid over an old painting. "I _might've_ been next to you if we weren't Knights, but we _are_ and _you_ need to work out, my friend."

Eric blinked at the sudden change and glanced at Matt to see how he should react. Matt acted like nothing had happened. Okay then. He scowled. "I'm _don't_ need to work out, Ashcroft!"

"May—be not physically," Matt said, holding out a hand to keep Nigel from replying. "But at the very least we need to give our powers and weapons a good try if we want the plan to work." Both boys quieted, conceding the point.

Matt groaned and dropped the duffel to the ground with a slightly wet _splat_ and a very heavy _thump_. Nigel frowned at it. "How much did that thing weigh, dude?"

He shrugged. "Fifty? Something like that." Two pairs of eyes popped out, staring at him. "What?"

"You biked _two miles_ with _fifty_ pounds on your back in the _sun_ and you're not even staining your shirt!" Eric yelped, pointing at him. "How does _that_ work?"

Matt frowned in thought and winced as his temples throbbed; the barrage was beginning again against his mental walls. "Dunno," he admitted, shrugging and hoping they would let it drop.

Nigel knew his friend too well. "Uh uh. You know. How?"

He scowled and bent over the bag. "All I get are flashes, you know that."

"So? What's your flash?"

Matt sighed and fell back, sitting on the soft ground and holding his head in his hands. "Nothing much. Two somethings on my arms, three behind me. Every single one of them was a lot heavier than this thing. I can remember worrying about weight distribution, but that's it."

Nigel frowned, satisfied for now. "…Fine. So what's in Matt's Mystical Bag of Magic Practice?"

Matt grinned and unzipped the duffel, turning it upside down. Objects that seemed to be picked at random fell out, clattering against each other and making small indents in the mud. Round pieces of wooden stumps, cans of silly string, a length of rope, notepads, the police scanner, and what looked like three sets of football padding.

"My dad played football when he went to Sheffield," Matt explained, picking up the blue and white pads. "He always kept three sets of padding around the house. One to wear for practice or games, one that was in the wash that he switched out for games and practice, and one extra. _We_ get to use them now."

"…For what?" Eric asked nervously.

Matt smirked, picking up a helmet and rolling it down his arm before putting it on his head. "One of the few things I _can_ remember is how to fight," he said, making Nigel and Eric glance at each other confusedly. Had he heard him at all? "So I'm gonna help you two."

Nigel's eyes grew large. "Oh no."

"Combat practice, boys."

Eric groaned and slid his already-aching body onto the ground. Nigel swore under his breath, but strapped on his helmet as well and smirked.

"Fine. Just don't expect me to wear your pops' jock strap."

"Are you positive, Missus Lin?" Taranee asked nervously. "I mean, everything's been so quiet in Meridian lately. We haven't seen anything magical for weeks, much less anything that screams 'battle'."

Yan Lin nodded seriously, wringing her hands under her sleeves. It was a bad habit she'd picked up in the seventies, after watching Shaggy on _Scooby-Doo_. "Yes, Taranee. An eternal gift is never wrong."

"Besides, I feel it too! Have been for the past three days!" Hay Lin added, shivering slightly. The girls turned to stare at her. "What? I'm sorry, I thought I just had like, a stomach bug or something…"

"That's okay, Hay," Will told her with an understanding smile. "Are we even sure it's from Meridian?" Her question silenced the entire group. "I mean, it's in our _name_. There are _infinite_ realms, right? Maybe something from one of the others has come a-knockin'."

"Will makes an excellent point," Yan Lin told her. "The danger could arise from any one of several realms. I hate to say it, but there is even a chance that your friend Shinobu's open folds might have granted it access to Earth."

Cornelia narrowed her eyes. "We're gonna talk to her about that, right?" she asked. "We can't have random folds opening everywhere, I mean, sooner or later something really bad is gonna come through."

Irma nodded. "We don't need an evil version of Gargoyle on Earth. He might crush the shops."

"I _mean_, something that wants the Heart of Earth."

"What if it's _not_ from another planet, though?" Taranee asked, gaining shocked looks from the others. "What if it's from Earth?"

"Better question," Hay Lin added. "No matter where it's from, how do we find it?"

Will sat and thought for a second as all eyes eventually turned to her. She looked up and stood, putting her hands palm-down on the table.

"We search for it. We split up—start in the very center of the city and work out way outwards from there. Don't leave any rock unturned, got it guys? _Any_ suspicious activity, link up with the rest of us and we'll come running."

The girls nodded and Will smiled, slightly nervously.

"Let's go looking for trouble."

* * *

**This chapter's done, I need to dress up! Tibki, AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!**

_**~Tibki**_


	40. Chapter 40: Magic, Doll

**Hey guys!**

**Guess what? I'm not in a rush today! Yay! Dad told me I could finish the chapter before I finished lawnmowing. But now I've finished... crud. I've gotta go mow the fudging lawn now. D:**

**However, you guys should still enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H. and one line from _The Sorcerer's Apprentice, 2010_**

* * *

**-Forty: Magic, Doll.-**

Outside the Hales' Apartment

Shinobu nervously held her bright blue binder over her thighs with both hands as the doorbell continued to ring. She'd only pressed it once, but it seemed to be programmed to ring several times, either on purpose or as a prank.

The story was that she was the new babysitter for Lillian. Matt had broken the news to Mrs. Hale (through Will, of course) that he would be too busy fixing his band up after Pedro's move and Eric's audition. The same time Will had told the woman, Irma had volunteered Shinobu to take his place until he was ready to come back.

In truth, now that Lillian knew about Napoleon, the cat would be babysitting the little blonde. He was her familiar, after all, and would often trail at her feet wherever she went. The reason Irma had suggested Shinobu was simple: just like Lillian, the Japanese girl needed practice on her magic and therefore, lessons from Napoleon.

Two birds were killed with one stone, and Shinobu found herself in front of the Hales' apartment, looking at the assorted potted greenery around her.

If she remembered right, Cornelia was the Guardian of the element of Earth—a nice _koinshidensu ,_ a coincidence, as her little sister was apparently the Heart of Earth. Vaguely, she hoped Lillian was different from the small jewel Will had called the Heart of Kandrakar. That would be… _gikochinai._ Awkward. But it made sense that a family so in tune with the Earth through their children would keep so many healthy and thriving plants.

The door opened carefully, the person behind it taking the time to turn the doorknob all the way before pulling it in. A tall blonde woman wearing thin-rimmed glasses answered—most probably Mrs. Hale, the girls' mother.

"Hello," the woman said, raising her voice slightly at the end, as if she was deciding whether it were a question or not. "Are you Shinobu?"

Shinobu blinked and bowed at the waist like she'd been taught to do since she was little. "_Kon'nichiwa_, Mrs. Hale," she said, rising again. She wasn't surprised at the double take the woman had taken—not very many people in this country bowed in respect, she'd found. "Yes, I am Shinobu Takeda. Irma told me you were letting me babysit?"

"I don't need a babysitter!"

Shinobu blinked in surprise at the screech coming from behind Mrs. Hale. The mother winced as her youngest child's screams attacked her ears. She looked over her shoulder and saw Lillian slouching on the couch, arms crossed and face set firmly in a pout. Napoleon was sitting on the top of the couch's back, just over her shoulder and was looking about as sympathetic as a cat could manage to look.

Mrs. Hale shook her head—a cat couldn't look _sympathetic_—and turned back to Shinobu. "Uh… yes, of course. Why don't you come in?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Hale," Shinobu said politely, stepping by her as she held the door open. The apartment was highly modern and included more of the plantlife she'd seen outside. It reminded her of a friend's apartment in Tokyo—they were quite wealthy and highly environmental people. "Your apartment is beautiful."

"Oh! Thank you, Shinobu," Mrs. Hale said with a warm smile. "Well, I'm not due in the office for another couple of minutes, so why don't we talk while I give you the basics?" Shinobu nodded with a bright smile. "So, the living room is there and the kitchen is through it. It's leftover night, so whatever you find in the fridge is fair game. Lillian's bedroom is there—she sleeps at eight-thirty and I should be back at nine, or Mr. Hale will be here at nine-thirty if all goes wrong. Have you ever babysat before?"

Shinobu jumped in surprise—she'd been looking at the black cat that was meant to be her mentor. "Oh, um, yes ma'am, a few times back in Tokyo."

Mrs. Hale smiled. "Your English is fantastic, my dear."

"Thank you. I've been learning for quite some time."

"It shows." Mrs. Hale looked into the living room. "Lilian, could you come here please?"

The small blonde girl who'd been pouting at the world slid off of the couch and stomped over to Shinobu and Mrs. Hale. Napoleon leapt off of the couch as well, trailing at her heels until she stopped in front of her two caregivers—permanent and temporary.

"Lillian, this is your new babysitter, Shinobu. She's from _Japan_. Shinobu, this is my youngest daughter, Lillian, and her cat, Napoleon. She insists I introduce them together."

Shinbou smiled hesitantly, even though Lillian was leveling her a glare she imagined would scare off the monsters her classmates apparently faced often. "Please, call my 'Obu. My friends find that slightly easier to pronounce. It is an honor to meet you, Lillian," she said, bowing once more. "And you, Sir Napoleon."

Lillian's upset face quickly changed into a shocked one. "How… did you know he was a knight?" she asked nervously. Only a handful of people knew about that…

"Your older sister Cornelia told me," Shinobu explained with a calming smile. Lillian blinked at her. "She told me all about how Matthew Olsen used to sit you, how he brought his dormouse Sir Huggles and the story he always told you."

Lillian cocked her head in confusion at the teenager before she winked secretively. Understanding made the little girl's face and clear blue eyes brighten and shine with a wide smile. "Oh! _That_ story!" she said, thumping the side of her head with the heel of her hand. "Doy! Sorry, 'Obu, sometimes I forget things."

Shinobu smiled. "Don't worry about it, Lillian. I forget things often as well."

Mrs. Hale chuckled. "Well, just be sure that you _remember_ that the emergency numbers are on the fridge and that I'm fifteen minutes away if you call. I love you, sweetie." The mother kissed her daughter on the forehead before gathering her purse and leaving the apartment to a chorus of farewells.

The moment the door clicked shut and the lock had snapped into place, Napoleon cleared his throat and gained the attention of the two girls standing in front of him. Shinobu blinked and resisted the urge to rub her ears—did she just hear the cat clear his _throat_?

"Well, girls," Napoleon said, sitting carefully in front of them. "Welcome to your first magic lesson." Shinobu dropped her binder in shock. "Don't look so surprised, doll. Talking cats are gonna be the most normal thing in your life from now on. Might as well take it as well as you can."

"Wait, you're here for magic lessons too?" Lillian asked, her eyes wide. "I thought you were my babysitter."

"I…" Shinobu shook her head to clear it of the pure, unadulterated astonishment stemming from hearing a Brooklyn accent out of a cat's mouth. "I mean… your mother… thinks that I am, but I am here to learn control of my magic from Napoleon."

Napoleon nodded. "Magic Lesson Number One—Civilians can't know about magic, least of all _parents_. That would make things complicated."

"How many Magic Lessons are there?" Shinobu wondered, suddenly glad she'd filled her binder with new paper.

The cat shrugged, his lithe shoulders rising and falling in a slightly unnatural way for a cat. "How should I know? I'm making these up as we go along, doll." Lillian giggled. "We're gonna work on control today. Shinobu, what's your power?"

The Japanese girl blinked and realized she should reply—she needed to get her mind wrapped around the idea of a talking cat. "I, um… I have opened several folds in the last few weeks."

Napoleon nodded thoughtfully. "Okay, fair enough. We'll start here in the living room for small stuff, and if we get to a bigger scale later today, we can move to this field outside of town I know about."

"A field?" Lillian repeated, following the cat into the center of the room. "What kind of field?"

"Ya know, one of those heather fields that this place was named for," Napoleon replied. "It's where Grandpa Olsen found me and brought me to his shop before you got your paws on me, Lil."

He decided not to tell them that it was also where he'd learned of his destiny to be the Heart of Earth's familiar. Logical questions that he'd rather avoid would stem from that admission—things like 'is that place very magical?', which it was.

Any magic they accidentally let out there would go unnoticed by anyone or thing on the planet or the other worlds—that was the magic of the field. It was a safe haven for magical beings that were hunted down. Outside of its boundaries, they could be sniffed out and captured by whatever magic-seeking thing wanted them, but inside of it, they'd be able to practice and hide without fear of peering eyes.

"Okay, kiddos, let's get this started." Napoleon pulled himself from his own thoughts and turned to the girls. They froze in shock as blue lightning arched over his body, extending bone and muscle and sinew, making him grow taller and stronger, almost humanoid in shape.

"Awesome!" Lillian squealed once Napoleon's transformation was finished.

Shinobu stared at him for a good moment before uttering under her breath, "_Tengoku no hijiri-shin wa, watashi ni jibun jishin o nani o ete iru?_"

Napoleon grinned, scaring her thoroughly with the display of razor sharp white canines.

"You got yourself into _magic,_ doll."

* * *

**And now I've gotta go mow.**

**However, real quick, I've gotta do something.**

**! OVER 125 REVIEWS? NO WAY! PAS POSSIBLE! I'M FREAKING OUT HERE! Thanks to all you people who put your name on the list of people who're reviewing! I would spell out all your names, but then the A/N would be longer than the chapter itself!**

**Ahem. Farewell, my good sirs and madams.**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	41. Chapter 41: Disturbing News and

**Hey guys!**

**Here's today's chapter! And while I probably shouldn't count my eggs before they hatch, I think you'll like this one. Because this is...**

**FIGHT SCENE!**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**Forty-One.**

Being invisible to the public really sucked.

Taxicabs won't stop for you. Using a bike would attract every wannabe Ghostbuster in a hundred mile radius. Driving yourself would give every other person on the road heart attacks and eventually cause the cops to pull you over. The singular way to travel was by foot.

Which was extremely hard when the entire student body of Sheffield Institute had taken onto the streets for their surprise free day.

However, Mr. Olsen had done it, carving a path through the crowd and leaving a trail of surprised and confused pedestrians who "swore something ran by me…" all the way from the suburbs and into _The Silver Dragon_.

By that point, the man was panting heavily and needed to stop at the door, propping his hands on his knees. He hadn't let himself rest at all on the sprint over to the city, and muscles he hadn't used since his years on the Sheffield Track Team were screeching their injustice at their treatment. Eventually the muscle union would form into a strike and he'd get cramps so bad he wouldn't be able to stand anymore.

Mr. Olsen shook his head and focused on taking in deep breaths of air. Thoughts like that only came from oxygen deprivation… or concussions, he knew from experience.

"I'm… too old… to be doing this," he uttered, forcing himself upright to pass through the doors to the restaurant with a large family of about six.

He was still panting when he passed by the dining rooms, past a slightly concerned-looking Mira Lin who he waved to with an exhausted smile and past eaters aplenty. The _Dragon_ was doing very well today, he saw. Yan Lin would be busy at the stove trying to feed them all.

"…Mrs. Lin?" he asked once he reached the kitchen. He hated to interrupt her when she was obviously busy, but she would understand—some things were more important than moo goo gai pan.

Yan Lin looked up from her place at the stove, mixing some stirfry, and frowned when she saw the heaving and sweaty man standing at the door. "Mr. Olsen?" she asked curiously. "What happened? You look like you just came from a race with a hoogong on a sugar rush!"

"I ran from my house… I forgot to tell you yesterday… about Matt and the boys…"

The elderly Chinese woman shook her head. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait. Sit down right now, young man, and I'll get you some water—you look like you need it."

Mr. Olsen obligingly sat down. "It can't wait, Mrs. Lin," he pressed on as she reached into the cupboard for a glass.

"Nonsense. How can you give me the news if you're fainted where you stand?" she replied. "Where is that darned glass…?"

"I saw the boys with some kind of magical fairy thing yesterday and they _know_ they're missing memories."

"Ah, there it is… what did you say!"

_Pop! Crash!_

The tall glass shattered as it hit the tile below, shining pieces scattering across the entire kitchen. Yan Lin didn't give it a second glance, though, and instead stared at the man.

Mr. Olsen nodded. She leaned against the counter. "Oh boy. We've gotta call the girls right now. Do you know where Matthew is?"

He shook his head. "He left house this morning with Mr. Huggles and a big duffel bag full of strange stuff. I only remembered what I saw yesterday because he mentioned the fairy's name—she went by Al, I think." Mr. Olsen lowered his head slightly in shame. "Mrs. Lin… I'm sorry, I meant to tell you yesterday, I wanted to, but after you told me about Shagon and everything…"

Mrs. Lin rested a hand on the man's shoulder. "Do not think of it, Mr. Olsen," she told him gently. "You were concerned for your son, shocked about what he'd been put through, angry that you were not there to stop it. Most things would flee from my mind as well if I was told that story with Hay Lin in Matthew's place."

She clapped him once before turning to the phone hung on the wall nearby. Dialing a set of numbers, she waited for a moment before she received an answer.

"Taranee, get the girls and return to the _Dragon_ now. We have disturbing news about the boys."

Taranee had been about to search the fields just outside of Heatherfield when, of all things, her _cell phone_ began ringing.

She'd been astounded that her phone could even find a place to hide inside the skintight uniform she wore that identified her as a Guardian, but eventually, she did find it, in a holster on her ankle hidden by her shoe.

"Uh… hello?"

"_Taranee, get the girls and return to the _Dragon_ now. We have disturbing news about the boys,"_ Mrs. Lin's voice rattled from the speaker, laced with nervousness and the slightest amount of fear.

"You've got it, Mrs. Lin." Taranee closed the phone and lowered her eyelids, focusing on her mental link to the other Guardians.

'_Guys? Grandma Lin wants us at the _Dragon_ pronto. She sounded worried, something to do with Matt and Eric and... '_

"… _Nigel…"_

Nigel froze in his tracks at the sound of the voice, standing stock-still and blinking in shock as the singular word reverberated in his mind like an echo in a cave. It was… Taranee's voice, but at the same time, it was so different. He only barely knew the girl, and the way she had said his name was filled with desire and love and…

And it was _so_ familiar, even though he was sure he'd never heard it before.

"Nigel, look out!"

"Huh?" His mind snapped back to the present. His eyes relayed the information of the rubber sole of a sneaker flying towards his face in record time and he instinctively ducked, only to get picked up by the sleeve and tossed aside like yesterday's trash.

Matt's foot landed back on the ground and he rushed over to where Nigel had landed, Eric on his heels.

"Oh $hit, buddy, are you okay?" he asked, biting his lip as Nigel groaned in pain. "Oh man, I am so sorry…"

"Geezus… when the #ell did grabbing someone become part of a roundhouse kick?" Nigel asked, turning over to glare at his friend.

Matt winced appropriately. "It's a back-up move. If someone dodges the kick, then you can still use your own momentum to send them flying… it was instinct, man, I'm so sorry."

Now seeing that the redhead was unhurt, Eric was laughing. "Man, you really took off, Ashcroft," he told the boy as Matt helped him to his feet. "Thought you started flying too, for a minute there."

Nigel scowled and Matt clapped him on the back apologetically. Using street brawling tactics and moves learned from Ross, Uriah, and other unsavory characters in his life, he'd had managed to duck and dodge away from most of Matt's nearly professional kicks and punches, even landing one or two below-the-belt hits here and there.

He'd apologized for those when they'd taken their first break, but Matt had waved him off and told him that in real fights, there were no rules and everything counted.

Two seconds after that, Matt had gotten another headache from the combination of the memories those comments brought up and a wicked smack Nigel had delivered to his temple.

"Don't laugh, Lyndon," Matt said with a smile, one that wiped the look off of Eric's face better than soapy water. He stooped and picked up the third helmet, tossing it to the boy. "You're next."

Eric swallowed nervously as he and Matt circled in the small clearing where the stream ran through the field. The ebony-haired boy had shed his helmet before even Nigel's fight, claiming it was too restricting for him, and had only left on the shinpads.

So he had a perfect view of Matt's face and eyes as the suddenly frowning boy scanned both the area and his well-padded opponent. Matt moved his stare to Eric, keeping his eyes aimed at his face but making sure he could see the boy's limps through his peripherals, at the very least.

"Uh… I've gotta warn you, dude, I've never been a really good fighter, so your knuckles and toes might hurt a little after this…"

Nigel snickered cruelly and even Matt's lips turned into a smirk. Eric smiled shakily. "…'Course, not as much as this is gonna hurt _me_…"

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," Matt promised, not changing his stance—slightly crouched, with one arm pulled back and another cross his chest slightly—or countenance, something that kind of unnerved Eric. "The most Nigel's got is a bruise from hitting the ground after his little landing. Whenever you're ready."

Eric bit his lip and swallowed. _This is gonna hurt…_

"Ready."

Matt shot forward, almost as much of a blur as Nigel could easily become. Eric yelped and dropped to his knees, bending backwards in a move reminiscent of the Matrix as Matt's fist swung across the area where his stomach had once been.

"Whoa!"

Nigel was on his feet, mouth hanging in shock, and even Matt looked down at him, slightly surprised. Eric didn't know what they were staring at—dropping to his knees wasn't that cool—but he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He straightened up and grabbed onto Matt's arm, trying to pull him down into a flip. But Matt didn't budge. However, he did knit his brows as if in thought and suddenly began grinning.

Eric didn't like it when Matt grinned, he realized.

Suddenly, he found himself jerked upwards into the air—Matt had yanked his arm upwards and pulled it back, releasing it from Eric's grip and sending him flying.

Eric automatically twisted in midair, his spine turning his arms and legs, letting him land lightly on the balls of his feet, three fingers in the mud and his other hand backwards.

Before he could think, Matt was upon him again like some sort of ferocious wildcat, throwing punches and kicks so quickly he didn't even see them coming. But somehow, he was able to get his forearms and knees up in time to block the hits, or able to dive to one side and dodge or duck to avoid them.

Vaguely, he heard Matt's voice yelling at him. "You're lighter than me, so you're faster! Use that speed to your advantage. Don't focus solely on blocking, you'll tire out before I do—use one arm or leg to block and the other to hit! If you have to throw yourself out of the way, snap out a hand or foot to the head to disorient me—that'll give you time to stand up after you land."

Eric swallowed and nodded, trying to do as he said. Matt's right arm flashed out towards his stomach, Eric's right forearm met it solidly and…

His left leg connected hard with something soft.

The boys stared, wide-eyed, as Matt was pushed back slightly by the force of the kick to his side. However, if it had hurt, he didn't let it show, and instead used the momentum that had nearly sent him spinning into a roundhouse kick.

Eric yelped and ducked as well, but remembered the failsafe Matt would send his way and jolted forward at the last second, barreling into Matt's legs and sending the two of them rolling into the mud and soil.

After that, it was chaos. Eric felt his movements slow slightly, felt as Matt pressed him into the dirt and soil with his own weight even as he tried to push him off of him.

Before he knew what had happened, Eric was facedown in the mud and Matt was kneeling on his back, gently holding his arm backwards across his spine.

The clearing faded into the sounds of panting for a moment before Nigel spoke up.

"Holy fu(king $hit. That was better than cable!"

"Nigel!" Matt snapped, panting slightly as he stood, releasing Eric and helping him back onto his feet. "Are you sure you've never fought before?" he asked curiously as Eric spat out a clod of mud.

The boy nodded. "Positive."

Matt frowned at him. "It's not some sort of missing memory, is it?" Eric shook his head again—if it had been part of those memories would've triggered some sort of familiarity, he knew. He felt that way about Ha…

Eric stopped that thought there.

"Why?" he wondered instead. "I mean, I wasn't that good—you had to yell at me to get me to try and hit…"

Matt was shaking his head. "No, you were _really_ good, Eric. I haven't had a workout like that since…" His brow furrowed in thought. "I don't know. But I think I _do_ know why."

Eric and Nigel both raised their eyebrows. "It's the air, dude. When you're flying, you can move yourself easily in three dimensions, right? Well, when you were fighting me, you had that same air all around you, so your flying _instincts_ moved you out of the way of my punches with the same agility. You probably didn't notice, but you were doing some pretty impressive acrobatics back there."

"Impressive doesn't cover it!" Nigel claimed. "Eric, dude, you have my _ultimate_ respect for that $hit!"

Matt snickered and looked back at the shocked Eric. "It also makes sense that once I had your back in the mud, when I shoved you back down to Earth, so to speak, you couldn't move as fast. You didn't have enough air to move through." He smiled and punched his friend lightly on the shoulder. "As long as you can keep from getting pinned, dude, I'm pretty sure you can out-dance even the fastest hitters."

Eric stared at them, his jaw hanging loosely. He was good at fighting? Or at least, the wild spinning part of fighting? _Awesome!_ His face grew into an astonished grin and Matt began laughing, shaking his head.

"Well, I think we've proved that we can all hold our own when it comes to fighting normally," Nigel said with a smirk. "So you know what its time for?"

Matt smiled and nodded, pulling the cubical jewel from under his shirt, completely unaware of the close attention his dormouse was paying him now.

"Abnormally?"

* * *

**I think I made Nigel a little too dirty-mouthed...**

**Hope you liked it!**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	42. Chapter 42: Doubts and Paintball

**Hey guys!**

**Sorry this is late. I had swimming and then Driver's Ed and soon I'm gonna have to help a friend move, so I'm rushing on this... like just about every other chapter. ':D**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Forty-Two: Doubts and Paintball-**

After Mr. Olsen had told his story, the entire back room of the restaurant grew astonishingly silent.

"Are you telling me…" Taranee broke the silence with her soft voice, "…that our boyfriends couldn't go three days without getting into some kind of magical situation involving some kind of fairy and a fat man?"

"I believe it," Cornelia announced.

Irma nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, no offense, Will, but ever since he found out Matt's been attracted magical trouble like a moth to a flame. Remember when he tried to attack Phobos with that sword? Or those Annihilators?"

Will nodded—she saw it too, though a small part inside of her thought that it had just been his male ego.

Hay Lin, however, was frowning. "I dunno, guys. Eric's not the kinda guy to hit someone with a security camera—he wouldn't hit anyone at all!"

"And I'm pretty sure Nigel all but swore off of anything even slightly unethical after those thieves in the sushi shop tried to frame us," Taranee added with a nod.

Will frowned. "You're right—it _doesn't_ sound like them. But before we found out about magic, none of us would hurt a fly, right? And now look at us. We're freaking fairy warriors for the force of good." She turned up to Yan Lin. "Do you know what that fairy thing was? That… Al chick?"

Yan Lin hummed and frowned. "I am not positive, but I have a hunch. Give me a moment." The old woman turned and walked to the pantry nearby, opening the door and disappearing inside.

After a moment, she returned, holding a heavy leather tome in both hands, coming forward and placing it on the table between the girls and Mr. Olsen. She opened it slowly, cracks issuing from the ancient spine as she dropped the cover down and flipped to a page near the center.

A small, hand-drawn picture of a girl dressed in what appeared to be a hollow honeysuckle bloom was in the corner, next to a long line of text. "One of the fairly common stories we tell little kids is the one of Thumbalina, the girl who was the size of a thumb and who wore clothes made from flowers.

Suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed as the small picture of Thumbalina rose up, made entirely of tiny yellow and red sparks of magic.

"The story that we tell our children is not far from the truth. Hundred of years ago, the jewel that represented the Heart of Earth saw how humans would grow and populate the natural areas that the blue planet was so famous for." The tiny cube-shaped pendant that the girls had puzzled over for the last two days appeared as Thumbalina fizzled out of existence

"To protect those areas, the jewel sent two magics into a nearby honeysuckle plant—a magic used to form and a magic used to empower." A small green and yellow bush appeared next to the Heart as two streams of light, blue and white, reached out and hit two of its buds.

"When the buds on the honeysuckle plant bloomed, they were no ordinary flowers. Instead, they were a pair of miniature people, made of magic and able to use it as well. The first to bloom was the girl, the size of an average human's thumb, who we call Thumbalina."

The audience watched as it happened in front of them, the small girl falling from her bloom and dropping to the ground gently. She stood and looked down at herself, at the tiny yellow flower that had formed a kind of dress around her, and looked back up at the bush.

"The second was a boy, whose name has been lost to history. The Heart explained to them through the magic it had used to give them form that they were the first Protectors, tiny magical beings who watched over the great areas on Earth and filled it with the natural magic that kept it alive even as the human race stretched across the surface of the world."

Thumbalina and the boy, who'd fallen from the bush when she'd looked up, joined hands and disappeared. "They were also the beginning of the race of Protectors, who should still inhabit parts of Earth." The lights grew back to their normal brightness as the book returned to it's plain self as well. Yan Lin closed it shut gently, picking it up again. "I have only heard of legends of Protectors—their paths and mine have never crossed, even when I was a Guardian. From what I know, they do not often interact with humans."

The girls shared a glance. "Why would the boys be hanging around one, then?" Hay Lin asked curiously. "With Matt's Regent power out of him, they're as human as human can be! Right?"

"Right," Taranee nodded with a shaky smile, looking over to Cornelia. "Right?"

"Uh… Absolutely," the girl replied hesitantly. "Right, Irma?"

Irma rolled her eyes. "Since when do you ask my advice?" she asked dryly. "Besides, I'm sure the boys are still as normal as they were before all this started… right, Will?"

Will really wished she could say she was certain about that.

"Okay, good job, Eric!" Matt yelled. Eric opened his eyes and grinned when he noticed that he had to look _down_ to see his friend—not up, as he'd had to three seconds ago when he'd found himself upside down 50 feet in the air. "Now, since you're already up there, we're gonna work on some weapons and power practice, okay?"

Eric frowned at him, not understanding. Matt turned to his side and shooed Mr. Huggles from the top of the duffel bag, hunting inside of it for a few items. He pulled out the bright red sticky string can and a handful of the tiny wooden circles. Nigel frowned and caught the can as Matt threw it to him.

"What do you want me to do with this?"

Matt grinned and picked up two other cans of the string, colored green and white. "Eric, lower yourself down here real quick!"

Eric concentrated and eventually found himself two inches from the mud. He grinned in success and allowed himself to drop the rest of the way—he was getting the hang of this!

Unfortunately, he was a little too focused on his triumph and on keeping both feet on the ground. So much so that he didn't see the white can coming his way until it had banged into his forehead.

Nigel roared in laughter as Eric swore and rubbed the spot, picking the can out of the dirt. Matt fought down a chuckle and smiled apologetically at their friend. "Sorry, dude." He shook his had in reply. "Anyway, I figured that we should probably all get practice together, if you know what I mean. So what we're gonna do is basically have a game of paintball—minus the paintball guns."

He nodded to Nigel. "Nige, we've already figured out that you can run fast enough to cover water and even jump onto horizontal surfaces," Nigel grinned proudly, "so what you're gonna do is run around the field and leave targets at all heights on the trees using the string, okay?" He nodded. "And while you're doing that, you'll also be throwing you _sheathed_ daggers towards me and Eric."

The boys' eyes widened. Matt held up a hand before they could protest. "Relax, guys, the sheaths'll stop you from getting hurt… if Nigel can manage to hit us at all."

"Hey! I can _totally_ hit you!" Eric snickered as Nigel protested indignantly. "Fine, we'll see who laughs last, flyboy. We'll see."

Matt turned from his friend. "I'll be trying to hit you with these," he continued towards Eric, holding out one of the wooden pieces. "I'll use my forces to get them up near you and you have to try and shoot them from your back to avoid them. Nige, if you can hit a couple of these too, that'd be great. You'll also have to dodge the string flying towards you, okay?"

Eric nodded. "As for me—you guys'll be trying to spray me and hit me with your daggers and I'll be tossing the targets up to you two, using my dagger and sword, and using my own spray can. Once the targets are hit, they're free game—you can take them, pull out the arrow if Eric shot it, and throw them at someone too. Everyone got it?"

The boys nodded in reply. "Alright… go!"

Eric immediately shot upwards into the air, being very careful not to look at the ground he was speeding away from, until he'd reached the height of the tip of the trees. Nigel sped from sight in a short red blur and a whisper of reeds and weeds, moving so quickly he nearly dropped from sight. Matt crouched and dove into the cover the reeds provided, pulling out the black blade from the sheath on his back.

Eric already had an arrow knocked on his bow and was pointing it at the ground, waiting for the tell-tale rustle of the plants that would betray Nigel's or Matt's positions.

Nigel stopped smoothly at the edge of the stream, untying his sheathed daggers from his belts and wrapping them up with the string that had held them so the sheaths wouldn't fly off.

The clearing fell into a silence that was only broken by the gurgling of the stream and the quiet calls of the birds inside the woods surrounding them.

Wood crunched as a bright scarlet streak suddenly rose up one of the trees near Eric's feet. Red string flew as Nigel pressed down on his can, aiming at Eric's stark white shirt.

Eric flipped backwards to avoid the shot and loosed his arrow at one of the flying wooden targets—it hit the center with a dull _thunk_—before blowing his own sticky string towards the now-dropping redhead.

Nigel arched out the way and rolled as he landed, on his feet and gone in the time it took Matt to shoot his own blast of green man-made plastic string at him.

The silence was crushed as chaos erupted in the field.

* * *

**So ends chapter 42.**

**Hey guys, could you do me a solid? The friends I'm helping move, they're really old friends of mine (and I have like, two really old friends) and they're actually getting evicted. So if you could keep 'em in your thoughts and prayers it'd be much appreciated. They're great peeps and they don't deserve this happening to them. No one should be forced from their home.**

**Thanks!**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	43. Chapter 43: Protectors

**Hey guys!**

**First off, I want to THANK YOU for all your prayers and/or thoughts for my friends. The girl and boy (the guy's the OLD friend of mine) stayed the night over at my place and he's touched by the amount of love pouring out for them. Which is something to say, because most Born of Osiris fans don't really say they're touched.**

**Second on, (see what I did there? :D) here's today's chapter!**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Forty-Three: Protectors-**

Al had once thought that her settlement outside the heather field had been the largest Protector community in existence near the human city. Nearly 500 Protectors had lived there at one time, each family housed in a singular hut that was extended whenever a new member was added to the family.

The collections of huts were so carefully placed that not even the most eagle-eyed of giants could find them without Protector assistance. Crevasses of a rock face deep enough to turn dark but not near wide enough for giants were filled with tiny homes. Old snake and spider nest openings held the roofs of other huts, hiding them from sight while protecting those in the burrows from rain. Tree hollows were used rarely, as a fall from that height would spell the death of any Protector unlucky enough to lose their grip.

Al's own home was inside a half-rotten, hollowed out log. No giant would come near it as it looked ready to collapse and covered in all sorts of bugs and spiders, so her family had built a tiny, low-to-the-ground hut out of wet soil and moss, using the broken-off portions of the log's bark for the roof, as camouflage in case any giant was insane enough to look inside.

Her belief in being from a large metropolis of Protectors, however, was shattered when she first walked into Protector City deep underneath Heatherfield. Tro had told her that nearly _2000_ Protectors lived within its confines as they walked down streets made from giant playing cards and looked up at entire buildings made from small boxes and bottles.

So when Tro and Liam came to her settlement to stay until Matt's plan could be put into place, she wasn't surprised when Liam made a comment about it being so small.

Insulted, yes. Surprised, no.

"Well, I'm sorry if it doesn't meet your standards, _your majesty_," Al snapped at him, scowling slightly. Liam raised an eyebrow at her as she led them deeper in the woods.

Tro shook his head at his friend and walked a little faster, coming up beside Al. The girl was fuming, he could tell, and he understood why—Protectors loved their communities almost as much as they loved their lives as Protectors and Liam had insulted it in her eyes.

"You'll have to excuse him," he told her gently. "Liam's not a real Protector—he doesn't know what it means for a Protector settlement to be big, you know?"

Al sighed and closed her eyes—her feet knew the way even better than her eyes did. Tro seemed to act a lot nicer than his bigger friend, at least. "What's his problem, anyway?" she asked sharply. "He's acting nastier than a angry red ant."

Tro chuckled. "I've never seen a red ant, so I'll take your word for it," he replied. Al smiled at him carefully before frowning as he took his gaze off of her, quieting suddenly. "Liam's… not so bad once you get to know him. He's suspicious of a lot of people at first, you know?"

Al looked at him, not understanding. Tro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "He used to belong to a place called the Fast World. A few months back, he was the one who found a man-made fold and walked through it.

"A girl named Mariko was the one who'd opened it. He fell in love with her the moment he saw her, and she with him. Every day, she would use her technology to open the fold and enter the Fast World so Liam could show her his planet, and so she could tell him of hers.

"It was perfect for both of them, for a few weeks. Then, Mariko's father, a giant man Liam calls Takeda… among other things…" Al sniggered and Tro smiled brightly—she needed to laugh more often. "Takeda found out about Mariko and Liam and disapproved. Big time. He tried to tell her to stay away from the Fast World, tried to forbid her from Liam.

"But she'd fallen too deeply in love. That night, she tried to run away through the fold into the Fast World. Liam was waiting for her on the other side." Tro shook his head. "Takeda was waiting for her. He tried to close off the fold before she could go through, but he didn't know how to do it.

"The machine making the fold exploded. Liam and Mariko were both sucked through the fold, going in opposite directions. Mariko was dropped onto the Fast World and stranded there, since no other fold could be made with the broken machine. Liam ended up on Earth, and the extra magic that the machine had used to make the fold entered him, shrinking him down to the size he is now."

Tro looked at Al. "In the Fast World, the person you trust the most in your love's family is the father. The father is supposed to protect his child and encourage their love. Takeda didn't do that. So Liam's trust was shattered."

Al was silent, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. Tro cleared his throat and continued. "He stumbled into Protector City a few weeks later. I lent him a bed at my place, and eventually we became friends. He's still a pain in the a$$ sometimes, but he's got good times as well."

She nodded slowly. "You're not… breaking his trust, right? By telling me this?"

Tro shook his head. "He doesn't care who knows. All Liam wants is to be able to return to the Fast World so he can be with Mariko again." He looked around the forest surrounding them. "You sure you know where we're headed?"

Al shot a death glare at him, fixating on boring a hole through his skull. Tro chuckled nervously and took a step back. She rolled her eyes and smirked. "Course I know where we're going," she told him. "I've only lived there my entire life."

Tro blinked at her in surprise. "We're… staying at your house?"

She nodded and looked at him in confusion. "Well, where else would you stay?" she asked. "All the other huts've…"

Al found a hitch in her throat that should _not _have been there. She cleared it away with a quick _ahem_ and continued as if nothing had happened. "No one's in the other huts," she finished.

Tro knew what was being left unsaid. When an entire family of Protectors died out, their hut was left standing, empty, by the others in the area. It served a dual purpose—they didn't have to rebuild it if one of them made a miraculous return, and it stood as a kind of gravemarker, a memorial for that lost line.

"Besides, mine's big enough," she continued. "I sleep in my mother's old room and you two can take my father and grandfather's."

Tro nodded, unsure if he was particularly comfortable with sharing a bed with the ghost of the girl's deceased father.

"After this, we go back to make sure the Knights are actually _working_." Al stopped in her tracks as Liam strode forward, brushing past her.

A sort of anger bubbled up in Al's heart, turning her face a bright shade of red. The boys, she had gown to like. They were goofballs and idiots and complete dunderheads sometimes, but they were still trying to help her and them. They were still her _friends_.

She didn't have a lot of people left to call friends, and she wouldn't let some upstart alien insult them. That was _her_ job.

"Hey!" Liam stopped and turned, that same blonde eyebrow raised. Al stomped up until she was two inches from his nose, looking up into his unimpressed eyes. "The boys can be stupid, I know that, trust me, but they're working _hard_ for _all_ our sakes, so I don't think they _deserve_ your little _attitude_. Get a new one. Now. Or I'll force a new one down your throat."

She jabbed him in the chest with her finger, nearly sending him backwards with the sheer force of the poke. "And if you _ever _talk about them like that again, I'll drop kick you off of the nearest cliff, you got that, blondie?"

Liam blinked at the much shorter Protector and watched as she stormed off towards a hollowed out log. He rarely had Protectors come up in his face—he had almost an entire couple of centimeters on them, and therefore he usually scared the bejeebers out of them.

He'd lived through a lot of things, but what Al had just done to him was new.

Tro came up beside him with a grin on his face. "_Man,_ that was hot."

* * *

**So yeah.**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	44. Chapter 44: Field Trip!

**Hey guys!**

**Sorry, short chapter today, I'm pressed for time and we've got visitors. Action comes next chapter, promise! And it's gonna be a dooooooozy!**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Forty-Four: Field Trip!-**

Twenty Minutes Later: The Hale Residence

"And now gently lower her to the ground…"

Shinobu said a prayer of relief around her closed eyes and the lip she was biting just hard enough so that she wouldn't draw blood. For a long time, she'd imagined that weightlessness would be like floating underwater, holding your breath and looking around quickly for as long as that amount of air would last.

She'd hated that with a passion. The water always felt like it was crushing down on top of her, set to hold her down and keep her down until that air had run out and she was drowned. The weightlessness some kids enjoyed fully, doing flips underwater and easily spinning to walk on their hands, was something Shinobu had cringed away from. The feeling made her stomach transform into a thin gymnast she'd seen at a circus as a little kid, flipping extravagantly and making her extremely nauseous.

Actual _floating_, as in _midair_, especially when she wasn't even in control, was ten times worse than a swimming pool.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, she felt a weight appear at her feet, as if someone had tied weights to her ankles to bring her down. Shinobu sighed in relief when her slow descent stopped and fell to her knees, resting her forehead on the smooth tile that kept her earth-bound.

"Oh sweet gravity…"

Lillian, three feet away, cringed. "Sorry, 'Obu. Was it really that bad?"

Shinobu looked up and softened at the child's guilty face. "No, Lillian. You were great. I just… do not like feeling weightless. I like knowing something has a hold of me, knowing that I will remain… grounded." She smiled at the small, unintentional pun.

Napoleon, back in cat form and lounging on the couch with his tail lazily twitching up and down, purred in amusement. "I thought you were afraid of heights," he admitted.

The Japanese girl glared at the cat. "I am _not_ afraid of heights. There is a difference between heights and weightlessness. I am perfectly fine on a skyscraper or a plane, looking down, but that feeling at the very top of roller coasters…"

"Ooooooh!" Lillian squealed in excitement and clapped, jumping up and down. "I _love_ that feeling! It makes me feel so _free_, like I can do whatever I want, like I can go up to the moon and no one would be able to stop me!"

Napoleon nodded and stood, stretching his paws forward and lightly clawing the couch cushions. "Well, dolls, it looks like you've got the minor magics down pat."

"Is… that good?" Lillian asked, confused by her familiar's wording.

Shinobu nodded. "I understand it is English slang for knowing and understanding something well."

"Oh. Cool! Now what?"

Lillian looked down at the feline familiar, who in turn looked to Shinobu. The girl blinked at him in surprise.

"You have a car or something, doll?"

"A… car?"

"Yes. A car. A vehicle used for transportation, often coming in an array of colors and sizes and brands. I know Tokyo's advanced, kid, but I don't think they've gotten so far ahead they've forgotten _cars_."

Shinobu blushed to her ears. "Oh. Right. Um, no, I don't, but Irma assured me that the Heatherfield Taxi Service will take me anywhere I wish to go, within five miles of the city."

Napoleon frowned in thought. "Will they let cats in?"

"If they're in carriers, I think," Lillian nodded. Napoleon winced. "Should… I go get it?"

"Yeah, you do that. We're taking a field trip… literally."

"…_Well, I'm sorry, Taranee, but Matt Olsen and a boy named Eric came over a few hours ago and picked Nigel up for band practice."_

Taranee raised an eyebrow and relayed the woman's reply to her friends silently and getting similar reactions. Will, who had called Grandpa Olsen only moments before, _knew_ that Matt had said he was going over to _Nigel's_ for band practice, and Eric's grandfather had said the same thing.

"_I can call him, tell him that he had a prior appointment studying with you…"_

"Oh, no, it's no problem, Mrs. Ashcroft," Taranee quickly promised, her mind snapping from the mental conversation between the five girls and back to the call. "A friend of mine… knows Matt. We'll meet him up over there. Thanks anyway, though. Bye Mrs. Ashcroft!"

Before the woman could really reply, Taranee had put the receiver down. "Those boys are hiding something," she said, crossing her arms.

Hay Lin nodded. "And judging by that Protector Al girl, something magic."

Irma chuckled. "Matt really can't help himself, can he?"

The boy's girlfriend blew a lock of hair from her eyes in exasperation. "As long as he's okay and he's not charging the Prince of Evil, I don't really care." Will pulled out her cell phone and opened it. "Ed, can you track Matt's phone? Missing memories or not, we can't let them go whatever this is alone."

"…_Sure thing, Will. One GPS coordinate of Matt's cell phone, coming up!"_

The girls waited patiently as Ed worked his magic. With a bright _ding_, a small map appeared on the razr's screen.

"_He's in one of the fields outside of town. The signal was kinda hazy—it jumped over most of the planet before I pinpointed it over there."_

"Hazy?" Cornelia repeated, confused. "What do you mean?"

"_Kinda like when you five are on Meridian or Kandrakar and your parents call. It's staticy. Hazy."_

Cold chills ran down the others' spines. "You don't think they're on another planet, do you?" Hay Lin asked worriedly. "I thought Protectors were an Earth thing!"

"Me too," Will nodded. "But let's just get over there, we'll see what we can find. Let's move out, girls."

"Sir yes sir!" Irma cried, saluting her as Will pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar.

* * *

**Til tomorrow, mah peeps!**

**Note to self: never try to be gangsta ever again. XP**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	45. Chapter 45: Headaches

**Hey guys!**

**Thanks for all the continued thoughts and prayers for my friends. They spent the night over at my place the last two nights and are now in an apartment, for the time being. It's appreciated highly and I can't say enough thanks.**

**Here's today's chapter! It's much longer than yesterday's and includes a little fighting. I think you'll like it... hopefully.**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H. and the idea of robots, which goes back to ancient times, so I don't know who technically owns it.**

* * *

**-Forty-Five: Headaches-**

Matt moved through the soft grass of the field slowly, being carefully not to cause a noise with his thick-soled feet or with the blades surrounding him. He knew that any decent tracker would be able t find him from the very smallest of imprints he left on the world around him—his only chance would be to find that tracker before the tracker found him.

His blade went ahead of him, carefully sliding blades and stalks to the side and allowing him a field of vision for him to take in before he took a step. Though it was sheathed, he could almost hear the ringing it would give off had it been used in true combat, used for it's true purpose.

Or maybe it was the ringing in his ears, from the silence of the clearing.

_Thunk!_

"Ha! Easy shot, Ashcroft!"

"I _let_ you have that one!"

_T-sssssssssssss-sht!_

Matt immediately crouched lower to the ground, hoping against hope his opponents wouldn't see the occaisional streams of red and white on his body—his friends were better shots than he'd first thought. Well, it wasn't just his ears; the ringing had continued through his friends' rather loud combat sounds, reverberating in his head like a bad microphone on an amp and causing his headache to triple in size.

He ignored the pain, focusing on the mission he'd given himself.

Slowly, he made his way over to where he could hear Nigel and Eric battling it out, trading petty insults both would forget in the heat of the "battle". Matt knew, somehow, that in a real fight, there's barely be time for witty banter—they'd be too busy trying to keep themselves alive and in one piece—but for now, for this, it was fine.

The headache flared, but again, was ignored.

Matt smiled as he peered through the last layer of reeds and saw Nigel speeding down the stream, running just on the surface of it, kicking water up high enough to cause Eric to flinch away and cover his eyes. The redhead kept going, using a hand to spin a u-ie around a small sapling. It groaned, nearly snapping in half from the force the boy was putting on it, a force perfectly visible to Matt's eyes, but stayed straight and allowed Nigel to continue the way back.

Matt readied himself. He pulled the green sticky string from his pocket, spinning it in the air before holding it out. Timing was key, so when Nigel was a few yards away yet, he let it loose.

By the time the string had crossed the space between the can and Nigel's path, the boy was there and covered in bright green sticky string. He yelped and stopped in surprise, automatically sinking into the waist-high stream.

Eric was laughing as Nigel began swearing and nearly shivering at the temperature of the water, but quickly stopped and joined in with his own admittedly impressive vocabulary when Matt began using the forces he'd gathered over the last few days to send targets up to him.

Three stumps had hit him in the face—gently, of course, but hard enough to be felt—before he realized what was happening and arched backwards, circling around the flying stumps before taking a pair of arrows from his quiver and letting them loose, hitting each exactly.

"It's an ambush!" Nigel claimed, pulling himself from the water. "Olsen, you're _dead_!"

Matt rolled his eyes and smirked. _If they can catch me_._ Maybe now they'll think before attacking._

Sure enough, slowly, the noise stopped. Matt grinned as his idea to get them seriously working worked through—

"Ooof!"

"Haha! I got 'im! Take _that_, Olsen!"

Matt groaned and pulled the bright red sticky string from his hair, throwing it to the ground. Reluctantly, a smirk spread across his face. He hadn't even heard Nigel coming.

"Hey Matt!"

Matt looked up and saw Eric ten feet above him, smiling and holding up a snow-white spray can. The strange _t-sss-sht_ was his only warning, but it was enough—even sprayed downward, the string would take a moment to fall onto him. He dodged around the line of falling white plastic, diving for the cover of the reeds once more.

Once he was hidden from view, he watched as Eric slowly swept downward, scanning the reeds for any sign of bipedal life. As long as he stayed lower to the ground than Nigel, he would have no problem.

"What are you doofuses doing?"

Matt yelped and spun in surprise at the voice behind him. Al stood there, her arms crossed and her foot tapping expectantly, as Tro and Liam stood off to the side, looking respectively slightly wary of and totally unimpressed by the female Protector.

"Ah-HA!"

He immediately looked up, just in time to get a face-full of bright white sticky string. Eric and even Tro howled in laughter as Matt groaned, picking the extra from his eyes, nose, and mouth and wiping it off on his shirt, leaving a bright white smudge.

"Eric, Nige, time out!" he called. "Get over here!" Matt turned down to Al, scowling slightly. "You gave me away."

She shrugged uncaringly. "At least it wasn't bird poop."

"I thought it was, for a second there," Tro commented, still giggling. "What _is_ it?"

"Sticky string," Nigel replied as he appeared behind Matt in a flash of scarlet. Matt jumped again and glared at his friend, who smiled apologetically. "We're using it for practice."

Al sighed and massaged her temples. Matt got the feeling she was getting slightly tired of the antics of a bunch of teenaged boys. "_What_ practice is that, exactly?"

"Combat practice." Now it was Eric's turn to enter, dropping onto the ground with a grace befitting someone who'd done the kind of acrobatics he'd attempted mid-air. "Matt thought that we shouldn't let our first try at fighting be a serious battle, you know?"

Al looked up at Matt, eyes narrowed. "At least one of you has some sense," Liam grumbled in the background, quickly earning the glares of Nigel, Eric, and surprisingly, Al.

Matt shook his head. "I'm pretty sure they have at least a little sense, too. Without it, they would'n't've been able to beat me down this bad." He motioned downward at himself, looking at the small collection of red and white stains. The boys high-fived in triumph. "Why're you guys over here? I thought you were heading over to Al's settlement."

"We did," Tro spoke up again. "And then… well, we started getting headaches."

The boys blinked at them, not understanding. "So… you need a baby aspirin?" Nigel replied. "No, a _baby_ baby aspirin?"

Al rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Not just a 'sick' headache, genius. The kind of headache Matt's been fighting off since Saturday?"

Matt frowned as all eyes turned to him. "You have missing memories too?" he asked, confused.

"No." Liam stepped up. "Other than one brought from illness, the only headaches Protectors get are ones that come when something magical is headed this way."

"Magical?" Eric repeated, frowning. "Like another Protector?"

Tro shook his head. "Bigger."

"Is there anything else magical in Heatherfield?" Nigel asked in reply.

Liam shrugged. "Something else might've slid through the fold to the Fast World when I came through."

Tro nodded and continued. "Plus there's a tiny chance an actual _giant_ has magic—kinda like you guys, but really different, you know?"

Al crossed her arms. "I'm still convinced your rat has something up his sleeves."

Matt immediately bristled in defense of his pet. "He's not a rat, he's a _dormouse_, and…! Whoa. Major déjà vu…"

Mr. Huggles, who'd taken his place on Matt's shoulder once the other boys had made themselves known, chirped.

"So, what's coming?" Eric asked, getting back to the topic at hand. "Bad guy, good guy, something that doesn't even know it's magic…?"

"How're we supposed to know?" Al snapped. "I can barely _think_ with this thumping in my temples!"

Nigel leaned in close to Matt's ear. "I'm guessing she's not in a good mood when her temples are pounding."

The girl turned an impressive shade of red. "Say anything more, Ashcroft, and I'll pound _you_."

"O-kay!" Matt stepped forward. "We all need to cool down a bit guys. We're working _together_, remember? Not against each other. Al," he looked down at the girl. "Any telling how close it is?"

The boys looked up as voices suddenly rose from the edge of the field closest to the highway. Al, Tro, and Liam turned as well, their ears picking up the slight rustles that were made as whoever had just been dropped off came into the reeds.

"Here, is a pretty good guess," Al replied, before running for cover with the others.

The taxi had taken a while to arrive after Shinobu called the company to come pick them up for a drop off at the field, but that time seemed like only a few seconds compared to the trip in the cab itself.

Napoleon had _not_ liked being in the carrier, and, unable to make his complaints verbally, he made them more than known through yowls, meows, and hisses. The girls had quickly gotten headaches from the noise, but couldn't ask him to stop without getting strange looks from the driver for having such an obedient cat.

Once they arrived at the field, the first thing they did was put the carrier on the ground and open the door, letting Napoleon shoot out and roll around in the grass, purring loudly. Shinobu tipped the driver for putting up with the noisy cat and followed Napoleon and Lillian into the field, yelling at them to wait up.

The driver closed his hand around the money in an almost mechanical movement. His dark black eyes swiveled up to follow the small Japanese girl as she disappeared into the tall grass.

In two movements, he reached over and inserted his pinky into the hole left by the cigarette holder, letting the USB drive built into the false digit attach to the port hidden inside.

Once the GPS signal was finished sending through the "radio" antenna, the robot powered down and relaxed against the seat. Orders were to conserve battery for the snatch and only to move when backup had arrived.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Major chapter tomorrow! :D**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	46. Chapter 46: The Girls

**Hey!**

**Gotta make this quick. Week and three days before school and I need to get started on a couple summer reading books. My mom said I either read or she takes away the laptop (and then I'm forced to break my promise to you guys), so I've gotta be reading 1776 by the time she gets home.**

**Hope you like.**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Forty-Six: The Girls-**

_Thromb._

_Thromb._

_Thromb._

"Matt? You okay?"

"Huh?" Matt looked up at his best friend's concerned face. Nigel's brow was furrowed and his eyes were inquisitive and confused. Vaguely, some part of Matt's mind worried that Nigel's red hair and shirt might attract the attention of the girls who'd just entered the field.

Immediately, the headache that currently had his temples in a vice tripled, tightening painfully and sending shots of crackling lightning through his skull. He winced and massaged his forehead. "…Yeah. Headache's worse."

"…Ow…" The boys looked down and saw Al and Tro sitting down on the soil, Liam crouching between them, a comforting hand on both of their backs. "Ours' too," Al spoke up, rubbing her temple.

"What's causing it?" Eric wondered quietly, keeping one eye on the girls they were hiding from. "And why don't _we_ have it?"

"Dunno." Matt winced and forced himself to ignore the pain, instead turning to the group a few yards in front of them, nearly hidden by the reeds and weeds of the field. A small black cat was closest to them, sitting daintily on the ground and licking his paw. Past the animal were the girls—an Asian teenager about their age wearing mostly dark blues and a little white, and a little blonde girl in pink.

Matt found his gaze attached to the child's bright blue eyes. They shone brightly in the afternoon sun, full of life and love and excitement and childish wonder as she looked around the trees and flowers growing around her. Innocence seemed to radiate off of her as she bent over a small yellow flower and gently stroked it's petals.

He barely noticed as his headache receded. The little girl was so… familiar. She was sweet and innocent and he _knew_ they knew each other, but from _where_…

"I… think I know her," Matt whispered, pointing to the little blonde girl.

Nigel squinted at the girl. "Yeah—I do too. That's Lillian, Cornelia's little sister. You know, Cornelia Hale? The blonde girl from school?"

"Lillian…?" Matt cocked his head, confused.

"What're they doing here?" Liam asked. "Al told us that humans rarely come to this field, and the ones that do are always fully grown. None of these are!"

Matt found his mouth replying before he had even fully absorbed the question. "This isn't a normal field, even by Protector standards."

"How'd you know?" Nigel wondered.

He blinked in surprise. "Uh… I don't know. But, think about it, there're a ton of places with Protectors and we probably pass by them everyday, but the Heart came to us _here_. That means there has to be something special about this place."

"So what do we do now?" The boys immediately quieted as the teenaged girl spoke up, seemingly speaking to…

"Is she talking to the cat?"

Eric and Matt both slammed their hands over Nigel's face, shushing him violently.

"Well…" The eavesdroppers all frowned as a rough, Brooklyn-accented, masculine voice that didn't belong to either girl came from… somewhere. "Now we—MEOW."

The boys traded looks of astonishment as suddenly, the grass behind the girls rustled and parted, revealing a man in a taxi driver's hat. His flat green eyes spun in an emotionless face and rested on the girls standing, confused, in front of him.

"I have orders to take you back into the city," he said in a monotone, almost boring voice.

"Uh…" The Asian girl frowned. "I am sorry, but we are not ready to leave yet, sir."

The man stepped forward and the girls stepped back. Matt's eyes narrowed into slits, drilling into the man's face, unseen from the distance. "Orders are orders," he replied, reaching out towards the girl.

"Do not _touch_ me!"

_Clang!_

The girl cried out and muttered something in Japanese as she pulled her hand back from the man's face, cradling it gently, close to her chest. "_Metaru?_" she said in astonishment. "Your face… it's metal?"

The girls screamed and backed away as an electronic blue light glowed from inside the automaton's eyes. The cat got onto his feet and hissed threateningly. The robot took another step forward, still reaching outward, this time for the small girl, Lillian, Matt remembered. The Asian girl stepped in front of her, protecting the smaller girl with her own body.

"Orders are…"

"No!"

Matt saw the robot's lifelike hands grow closer and closer to the little Lillian girl and felt something deep within him bubble to life. Memories screeched behind his mental blocks and threw themselves at them, frantic for release so he would know just who wanted to hurt this beautiful little innocent girl and how to prevent them from doing so.

He couldn't let Lillian get hurt. He _couldn't_. In that second, Lillian was a million times more important than the secret he and his friends had been keeping for the last few days, more important than even Al's and the other Protector's predicaments. Nothing mattered except protecting Lillian. _She_ was the important one now.

Matt leapt from his hiding place, unsheathing his sword and hearing it ring as he leapt over the girls' heads, landing softly between them and the robot. Without a second's hesitation, he swung the sword outward, cutting across the thin neck and slicing through cord and wire and metal with the razor-sharp blade.

Before the robot could even have fallen, Matt had the sword embedded in his chest, right where the heart would've been, to make sure it couldn't try and get back up. With an ear-splitting _screech_ of metal-upon-metal, he pulled it out and whirled around once more, looking behind the terrified and shocked girls and cat, to the reeds that held the astonished group he'd just exposed.

All around him, the weeds and other plants bent slightly as the air around him pulsed slightly. Matt saw Eric's head turn upwards at the disturbance even as he felt the earth underneath his boots rumble slightly.

"Guys! Air and land reinforcements!" he yelled, adrenaline already pumping through his veins as the promise of a battle appeared on the horizon. "Eric! Take out the chopper! Nige, help me out here, they're coming!"

The girls turned around in shock as Eric shot upwards into the air, a bright white spot against the blue sky. Nigel shot from his place, at Matt's side in a millisecond and a flash of a bright red streak. He already had his daggers out and held them both in his hands, almost as comfortable in his palms as the hilt in Matt's hands.

"Dude, what _was_ that?" Nigel demanded, eyes wide. "You're gonna give us away!"

Matt shook his head. "Lillian's too important." Nigel looked at him as if he were insane. "Just _trust_ me, okay, man? I don't know what's going on either, but some part of me does and I'm trusting that part of me."

Nigel blinked as similar words bounded around his head. _Some part of me…_ "…will always remember? …T'ree?"

_Thump._

_Thump._

Lillian and the other girl screamed again as the boys swore. At least ten more robots, these a lot more obvious than the driver that Matt had grounded in front of them and a fair bit bigger, marched in a straight line through the weeds.

Matt looked up as the telltale _pop-pop-pop_ of gunfire exploded above his head. "Never been in a fight with guns before," he commented, readying his sword at his side and arching his shoulders back in preparation.

"Can't say that anymore," Nigel replied, crouching into one of the stances his brother had taught him to get into if he found himself in a brawl. Unlike Matt or Eric, this wasn't his first time with the deadly firearms, unfortunately, but the robots were new. "Hope Eric's good at dodging."

Despite himself, a small smile crossed Matt's lips. As little as he remembered, he still recalled the feel of the battlefield and how _right_ he felt standing between a little blonde girl and enemies who wanted to hurt her.

"Let's see if that practice was enough, huh?"

Nigel looked at him strangely before Matt ran forward and sank his sword into metal sheeting.

* * *

**Gotta run, gotta read, gotta RUN AND READ.**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	47. Chapter 47: Battle On!

**Hey guys!**

**I think you'll like this one. :D**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Forty-Seven: Battle On!-**

The Guardians were in the alley behind city hall when it happened.

After going through Meridian, the only other world they knew of that wouldn't shun them away, and finding that no folds besides ones that were accounted for by Shinobu and Blunk had been opened, they'd returned to Earth and decided to continue their patrol of the city, hoping against hope that they would run into the boys at some point in time.

The fact that Elyon had promised to send her guards out around the planet to keep and eye for the three boys, just in case, did little to appease Will's fears. Her boyfriend had gotten himself chest-deep in magic trouble again and now, not only were the boyfriends of two of her closest friends dragged along with him, but all three of them were _missing._

She had brought them back in the alley and had changed them back to normal—the day was bright and clear, and the citizens of the city didn't need another Heatherfield Fairy story running around. The five girls were about to split ways when Hay Lin suddenly gasped.

"Hay Hay?" Irma asked, immediately concerned for her oldest friend. A slight breeze blew through the alley, blowing up the girl's hair and Cornelia's skirt, sending Hay Lin's ponytails flying in every direction.

The air Guardian had her eyes closed and her head angled slightly backwards, as if to feel the full force of the breeze—which, Will realized, she probably was. When Hay Lin opened her eyes and looked back at her friends, she was as serious as they had ever seen her—not a good sign on such a cheerful girl's face.

"Hay Lin…?" Taranee trailed off.

"I don't know if it has anything to do with the boys, but… you know that feeling Grandma and I had before? About the battle coming?"

"Yeah, we remember," Irma replied, nodding. "Kinda freaky, to be honest."

"Then you'll find this freakier," Hay Lin continued. "I think… the fight's started."

Ten Minutes Later—Just Outside Heatherfield—Elevation: 700 feet

As the world continued to spin ever closer to the sun, the star's rays fell to Earth and warmed the ground as well as the air just above it. That air, made hot by the radiation, rose upwards as hot air did, creating the thermals necessary for any flier's climb and their quick journey.

Will rode one of the thermals across the sky, the girls around her. Her wings beat against the hot air in a fast, nearly buzzing fashion, making a kind of fan that swept the air through her hair and cooled her down slightly.

Hay Lin was at the front of the pack, leading them towards the place where the battle had begun. The fact that they were riding the thermals had to be done on purpose—it was the fastest way to cross the city, and with the amount of birds that usually used them as well, it wouldn't be strange to see five shapes way up here.

But even though it was a necessity, Will was doubly thankful that Hay Lin had chosen to use them. Not only was it the fastest way to wherever they were going, but she felt warm and comfortable up in the swirling currents of air, in a way she hadn't felt warm and comfortable in what seemed like forever.

The thermal had enveloped her at all sides like a hug from a very familiar boyfriend. She hadn't been in his arms since Friday night and it was now Tuesday afternoon. Will was a fragile girl that would collapse without a man, not by any frame of mind, quite the opposite, she'd been told she was one of the strongest girls several people had known, but she was still a teenaged girl and teenaged girls loved being with the ones they loved.

The idea that this battle had nothing to do with Matt killed her inside. While she was off fighting battles, he, again, had been left sitting on the sidelines like a worrying mother… except, now he didn't even know to worry about her. She felt like she was leaving him behind, by going to fight a battle against an unknown enemy while he sat there, lacking any memory of her or their trials together.

However, as much as that idea killed her, the idea that this _did_ have something to do with Matt tore her apart and set the pieces ablaze. Without his powers, all Matt had to go on was an admittedly impressive skill with medieval weapons and, let's face it, where would you run into those in Heatherfield? He could've been taken prisoner, or brainwashed to work for the enemy…

Will could _not_ imagine having to fight Matt on a battlefield. She did not _want_ to imagine it.

"Will!"

Cornelia's scream brought her back from her thoughts. The blonde was pointing downwards, her face filled with shock.

Will turned her head earthwards and gasped.

Three white vans with the word FBI marked on them in blue had parked up against the edge of a highway near a taxi, the doors opened wide. A helicopter circled around the nearby field, sending air currents that twisted and turned the trees and weeds inside the field crazily.

In the center of the field, clearly visible even from their height, Lillian and Shinobu stood behind three tall men holding fairly sharp weapons, huddled together as if in fright. In front of the three men was what seemed to be a fourth man, talking to the three with weapons.

Will frowned in thought as she looked at the fourth man, who had extended a hand outwards in a sign of peace. There was something strange about him…

The bigger of the two armed men swung out the sword he'd been holding and cut off the man's arm. The smaller one, in red, backed up and took hold of little Lillian's arm.

Hay Lin screamed at the sight of the man's arm falling to the ground. Irma and Taranee gasped in horror. Cornelia, however, had other problems.

"That's _my_ sister, you BA$TARD!"

In an explosion of green and brown, the ground around the two men suddenly turned against them. The soil itself turned and ripped apart the grass that had covered it, sending the men sprawling. Vines and roots stretched, trying to wrap around the men and hold them down for Cornelia to relay her full wrath on them.

The massive display snapped Will back into combat mode.

"Guardians, ATTACK!"

The five girls dove towards the ground, ready to fight for the two smaller ones in heavy trouble.

Ten Minutes Earlier:

Robot after robot had come in front of Matt's sword, so many he'd lost count. In short glances between shiny metal plates, he could see Nigel working his way though the throng, staying close to the ground and combing the brawling moves his brother had taught him with the not-unimpressive raw talent he had with his new daggers.

The jet-black blade sang as it sliced through a robot's neck, a shoulder, a leg, before it finally fell and stayed still. He ducked as one sent a fist flying towards his head and stabbed forward with the sword, cutting into the rubber waist and pulling apart wires and circuit boards.

Matt kicked one enemy in the chest and turned immediately, cutting straight through the heavy metal protection of the thing's head, slicing it clean in half. He took a moment to stare at the collapsing robot and looked down at the shining blade.

"Whoever made this puppy's a freaking magician… whoa!"

The only thing that stopped the oncoming metal-spiked fist was a bright red streak that stabbed a small brown blade into the forearm and dragged it downward, ruining the wires and cords that made it move.

Nigel's smiling face beside him only stayed for a moment. "Saved your life!" he called with a laugh before disappearing.

Matt shook his head and swung his sword around his head, decapitating the robot in one move. Even with only one morning's practice, that streak was holding his own pretty well.

"Yaaaaaaah!"

Matt looked over his shoulder and saw three familiar, small shapes converging on one robot's head. Al was standing on the very top of its cranium and was stabbing it repeatedly with the tiny dagger from her waist.

However, that didn't do much to harm it, and the automaton quickly had all three Protectors in one hand.

Matt yelled, but before he could do anything, a massive roar came from beside the two girl behind them.

Mr. Huggles leapt from the grass behind them. Matt felt his mouth drop as blue lightning covered the once-harmless white dormouse and transformed him into a seven-foot tall beast that full-body tackled the robot, freeing the three Protectors.

"Holy _#ell_!" he heard Nigel cry from somewhere to his left.

Al looked at the beast and turned to Matt. "Look out, doofus!" she screamed, pointing.

Matt barely got his sword up in time before the robot he'd kicked before came back at him. In three strokes, it lay sparking at his feet and Al was speaking again.

"I _told_ you he wasn't a normal dormouse!"

Huggles, in reply, took down another robot. Matt shook his head again as Nigel added, "Dude, have I ever told you how much I _love_ your dormouse?"

The final robot suddenly found itself under Matt's sword, pinned to the ground by the blade that had slid through its chestplate like a hot knife through butter. He pulled it out with a sharp _snick_ and stepped back, not bothering to resheathe it.

Eric landed next to them, panting heavily, most of his arrows missing from his quiver. "The chopper's gone, but I don't think it'll be out for very long, and with a lot more 'bots… what the #ell is _that_?"

Nigel was grinning widely as he clapped his friend on the back. "Meet Mr. Huggles, dude. Huggles… 2.0."

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, buddy," Matt told the beast, who shrank down to his normal size in reply.

"… Mattieboy?"

The boys turned as the man's voice they'd heard before spoke up again. For some reason, however, the only living being that stepped forward was the inky black cat, whose mouth was hanging open in a very human expression of shock.

"Uh… who said that?" Nigel asked, looking around in confusion.

The cat closed his mouth and _glared_ at the redhead. Matt's mouth fell again as it's opened. "Down here, genius."

Nigel's head spun and his entire body went limp in shock. Eric yelped in surprise.

"The cat talks!" Matt said, pointing and looking at the girls. "Your _cat_! Just _talked!_"

"Yeah, he does that a lot," Lillian replied, nodding. "His name's Napoleon."

Napoleon, apparently, frowned. "Why are you so surprised?" he asked, more to himself than to Matt. "You were there when the girls first found out, not to mention you're a Regent…"

Matt winced as the word rebounded in his head like a microphone feedback. "Ow…" he groaned.

"T-t-t-talking cat," Eric stuttered.

"Yes, we've gathered that," the Japanese girl informed him. "Who are you three?"

Before the boys could reply, or think of a lie to reply with, the reeds separated once more. Matt immediately had his sword out and pointed towards the newcomer. Nigel was crouched low with his daggers and Eric had an arrow nocked when he made himself known.

This one was like the first one, the taxi driver, in that it was made to look more human, like a middle-aged man with blonde hair and blue eyes. A thick vest with the letters FBI was over his chest.

"You three have taken down our first line of defenses." The FBI charade fell quickly when the man spoke, his monotone, electronic voice obviously belonging to a robot and not a real human. "No other target has succeeded in doing so."

"Yeah, well, we're not your normal target, buddy," Eric admitted. "Honestly, we're not normal anything."

"What do you want?" Matt demanded, eyes narrowed and sword trained on the robot.

He offered a hand towards them. "Nothing much—we simply want to see the limits of the target's power. Just a few non-invasive tests…"

Lillian whimpered and hugged the girl behind the boys. "I don't like tests."

"You and me both, kid," Nigel replied with a grin. "Especially tests run by faulty Windows programming. How many times do you guys crash a day? Three?"

The robot didn't seem to be programmed to understand insults. "Give us the main target and we will leave the rest of you alone. Including the small targets behind her, and the rest of the small ones around Heatherfield."

"The rest of the Protectors?" Eric asked, frowning.

"Abso-freaking-lutely not," Matt said decidedly.

It pressed further. "That is not a smart decision. We have hundreds more robots at our disposal and we shall go after the other small targets with them."

Matt shook his head, mirroring the Protectors behind Lillian and the other girl. "No. Lillian's too important."

"She is only one life. I urge you to…"

Without a word, Matt sliced forward and cut off the hand. "Go urge your boss to quit messing with innocent little girls!" Matt growled, anger making his voice low and threatening. "Nigel, get Lillian out of here!"

Nigel nodded and took a hold of the blonde's arm.

Screams erupted above them. The boys looked up and saw five purple and green shapes flying high in the air. Matt nearly yelled in pain as his head throbbed at the memories of those five shapes…

"That's _my_ sister, you BA$TARD!"

Nigel, Matt, and Eric swore all together as the ground suddenly rumbled beneath them, twisting and turning and knocking them off of their feet. Vines and roots rose from the soil to ensnare them only knocked away by Matt's sword or missing a running Nigel or flying Eric by inches.

"Guardians, ATTACK!"

Matt leapt to his feet again, his sword at the ready, as a very literally _pain_fully familiar redheaded _fairy_ dropped down in front of him, her face furious and determined.

"Whoa." He looked at the delicate wings on her back, pushing the headache to the rear of his mind. "You're almost as weird as we are, huh?"

The girl glared at him. "You're the leader of this gang, bub? Well, I'm the leader of mine and I'm not letting you _touch_ her!"

Before Matt could wonder what she meant, a blast of pink-purple lightning burst from her fingertips. He yelped and swept to the side, picking up the sharp smell of burning ozone as the electricity passed inches by his face.

"Whoa!" This cry was a lot more impressed than before. Matt looked at the girl and frowned, narrowing his eyes. This girl was more than she seemed, apparently. Though it was a ridiculous time to be feeling it, he was a little attracted to her; she was a pretty girl for sure, with a rare combination of chocolate brown eyes, olive skin, and a shock of bright red hair that beat Nigel's into the dirt, but every girl he'd ever fallen for seemed to have something hidden behind her.

This girl seemed to fit that particular bill perfectly. However, she was also on the opposing side, so...

If she wanted a fight, he'd be glad to bring it.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	48. Chapter 48: Battle Part Two

**Hey guys!**

**_Do not read the following paragraphs if faint of heart:_ God I'm tired. Mom woke the entire house up at 6:30 this morning, especially me and my sister because when she screamed it was in my room. When the first thing you hear in the morning is a string of Hungarian swearwords that makes you want to wash your ears out with soap, coupled with the words "Oh my GOD that's a big RAT!" coming from three feet from your bed, you know what kind of day that's gonna be.**

**Just another day, at my house.**

**Anyway, my proud cat Big Guy (see profile picture) is currently sitting where he left the little dead present, wondering why in all #ell Daddy would've taken away such a prize. He's two feet from us and he's getting a massive can of tuna for it later today. :D**

_**Now it's safe:**_** Anyway, here's today's chapter. For those of you who like the Epic Rap Battles of History, Welcome to the Battle of Waterloo, PART TWO!**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Forty-Eight: Battle Part Two-**

"Stay _still_ so I can _crush_ you!"

"That's not exactly good incentive for me to stop, you know!" Nigel cried, leaping over plants and rocks as they flew at him. Whoever this blonde chick was, she had some _serious_ anger management issues and for some reason had decided to take them out on him and him alone.

He streaked across the clearing, ducking and leaping at the right times to avoid the crazy chick's plants, only briefly wondering how she was able to do that. Once he reached the stream at the back of the field, he had different problems.

"Water!"

"Whoa!" Nigel scrambled to turn around, pushing his heels into the dirt and nearly ending up on all fours. The stream itself had risen into the air like some sort of massive blue snake. "I don't like water!" he claimed as he shot back to his feet.

High above his head, Eric struggled against the air currents that the small Chinese girl was somehow turning using only her hands. His hair and clothes flapped wildly around him as he fought against the push, spinning and twisting to avoid the fireballs that were also heading his way from the African-American girl.

"Don't suppose… we can talk this out on the ground?" he offered, suddenly aware of high they were above the ground. _Is now really the time for my acrophobia to rear it's head? AGAIN?_

"Not a chance, buddy," the girl with the fireballs replied, nearly blasting his head off.

"Thought so," Eric mumbled. He glanced at the face of the girl sending a particularly cold wind at him and winced as his temples throbbed. "!)amnit."

She frowned. "Wait. What kind of flier's afraid of heights?" she wondered, stopping the wind in surprise. Even the fire girl slowed her blasts, looking at him strangely.

Eric felt his face turn red. _Do NOT blush in front of the enemy, Lyndon!_ "I'm working on it, al_right_?" he shot, before shooting upwards. He reached the top of his climb and leaned backwards, twisting inside a wide semi-circle before blowing past them.

The girls snapped back to the present, grabbing hands. Eric frowned at them before the next fireball turned into some sort of flamethrower that sent him running.

Down on the ground, Matt and the leader of the girls circled slowly, waiting for the other to make the first move. She looked at the enormous pillar of flame that had sent Eric into a full retreat and the water that was playing whack-a-Nigel as the boy kept trying to avoid the rogue plantlife.

"Looks like your little team is dropping the ball, huh?"

Matt looked at his friends and buried the urge to bite his lip in concern. "They'll be fine," he told her, also assuring himself slightly. "If I know them, they'll be back on their feet in a couple seconds."

Sure enough, as he spoke, Nigel had switched onto a vertical surface and run up an immense pine tree, dodging the branches as the plant girl attempted to make it hug him still. He leapt off the top and landed directly on top of the brunette who had been controlling the river, making the water slosh back into it's normal place as they fell to the ground.

Eric had twisted out of the way of the flamethrower and nocked an arrow, catching Hay Lin's dress and embedding her on a nearby tree. He pulled out another, but was forced to fly out of the way when a furious ball of fire came calling his name.

Matt smirked at the girl in front of him. "Looks like your team is dropping the ball, huh?" he quoted.

A bright spark of purple electricity flew through the girl's cheery red locks, making it stand a little from the sheer amount of static electricity inside it as her face became enraged.

"Oh, you are _so_ done!"

The redhead shot forward with a fist cocked, electricity sparking on his knuckles. Matt ducked away and spun around her, facing her back before she turned around.

The two ran forward and met in the center of the space between them. He swung his blade down for a strike but found it taken hold of by the less-sharp side. She tugged hard on the blade and, to Matt's eternal shame, managed to get it out of his grip, sending it flying into the soil point-first.

She smirked at him. "Butterfingers?"

Matt glared, even though his strange mouth was grinning. "Oh, you'll pay for that one, babe."

The girl frowned and glared at him as well. "Only _one_ guy gets to call me that, and _you're not him!"_

Matt yelped as another fork of lightning came his way. He dove out of the way just in time and glanced back at the smoldering ground where he'd just been standing.

"Temper, temper," he said, jumping back to his feet. "You're gonna hurt someone like that."

"That's the _plan!_"

The girl took to the air, sending lightning strikes at him, one after another. Matt didn't stay in one place for longer than a second, moving nearly as quickly as Nigel to make sure he didn't become a crispy piece of Matt barbeque.

Matt felt the Heart at his neck tingle as he forced his vision into a completely different spectrum, watching as the green normal force originating from the girl's wings kept her aloft.

"Let's level this field, huh?" he asked, ripping the green from her back.

The girl yelled as she dropped, landing deftly on her toes. She looked behind her to make sure that her wings were intact before staring open-mouthed at the boy.

"How did…?"

Matt grinned and crossed his arms. "C'mon, you're a smart girl, I'm guessing. My buddies have powers, why shouldn't I? All I did was take away you ability to screw gravity—you're just as earthbound as I am now, babe."

The girl was about to scowl and throw another fork of lightning at him when suddenly, the satisfied smirk on Matt's face fell and replaced itself with an alertness that he barely remembered having.

Behind the girl he'd been fighting, the grass was beginning to sway and move unnaturally. Someone was in it, and he had a good idea who it was, once he saw a shiny metallic barrel stick out from it, pointed directly at the redhead's back.

The adrenaline that had been pumped through him before suddenly went into overdrive. _Not her!_ his mind screamed as memories pounded against his mental blocks like never before. _Not her! Not her!_

"Eric, get Lillian out of here!" he roared, knowing the boy would hear. "Will, look out!"

The redhead froze in shock and Matt himself would've wondered where the name had come from, if he hadn't been tackling her out of the way of the dart.

A sharp pain entered his shoulder as a bright green-feathered dart entered it. The last thing he saw was the redhead's confused face before everything went black.

Eric and the Chinese girl traded a look before shooting towards the ground at the exact same moment, passing urgently over the entire field, looking for the little blonde girl.

Nigel and the two girls after him suddenly froze in place as a sharp pain entered their backs, creating a cold that quickly spread and knocked them from consciousness, causing them to fall to the ground.

Eric saw the African-American girl that had been out for his blood fall from the sky as well and heard as her singular conscious teammate began screaming four names—names he couldn't make out from the rush of wind passing his ears.

_There!_

A couple hundred feet below him, little Lillian was holding tightly onto the solid black cat, hugging him as if he were a stuffed animal, sitting on the ground and crying. Two green-feathered darts lay on the ground next to a standing Japanese girl holding an unconscious dormouse.

Eric dove and landed next to them easily. The Japanese girl eyed him suspiciously, but her face softened when Lillian scrambled to her feet and hugged him around the waist.

"Please tell me he's not dead, please!" she cried, holding up the small body of the black cat. Eric blinked at the sudden trust she was putting in him and looked at the small cat. It's chest was rising and falling, so…

"I-I think he's alive?" he offered. "I can't be sure, but we need to get out of here, _now_…"

"The only place they're going is with me," the Chinese girl said as she landed by him, glaring through tears.

Eric backed up and put himself between Lillian and the girl. "You're not touching…"

"Would you two stop acting like children and realize that you are_ on the same_… OW!" The Japanese girl winced and reached behind her, pulling out a bright green dart just like the ones on the groun. "Uh oh," she muttered, before falling to the ground.

"No! Shinobu!" Lillian and the Chinese girl cried at the same time.

Eric frowned but then yelped as a sharp pain entered his side. The last thing he saw was the Chinese girl and Lillian picking darts off of themselves as well.

"…_Hay Lin…"_

* * *

**Til tomorrow!**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	49. Chapter 49: Bubbles

**Hey guys!**

**Long chapter, gotta run. Nothing new, huh? ;D**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Forty-Nine: Bubbles-**

Once again, consciousness was thrown at Matt like a baseball pitched my a major leaguer.

He gasped through his nose and shot upright, already scrambling to his feet and scanning the area once more for enemies.

The first thing he noticed was that the world seemed to have taken on a bright green tint, like that of a freshly born bud on a bush. The room around him was painted that green, walls stretching high above his head, two of them several yards from where he was standing and one right in front of him.

However big the place was, though, it wasn't well furnished—apart from a desk with a couple papers and a lamp on it and a wooden chair sitting in front of it, it was completely empty.

Matt frowned. Where the #ell was he? What had happened? _The field… those robots… the shiny barrel aimed at…_

"Will?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing at the name. It was strange on his tongue, unused in quite a while so that he almost had to struggle to form the word, but it tasted so lovingly familiar, like a candy or cookie he hadn't had since he was really little and had missed badly.

There had been a bit of pain, and then… nothing.

He frowned and looked at his side, pulling up his shirt. Matt's eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline—he wasn't weak, but that was _not_ what he'd seen in front of the mirror before he'd put on his shirt this morning—but apart from the suddenly noticeable muscles, a bright red puncture mark was slowly scabbing over just underneath his ribcage.

Matt scratched the scab off—a bad habit from childhood—while looking back over the room. The wall right in front of him, there was something strange about it…

He walked forward to see what exactly it was and yelped as his forehead slammed against something very hard.

Matt fell back on his rear in a _very_ graceful move and rubbed his head, wincing. "What the #ell?" he muttered, looking at the air in front of him. He reached out a tentative hand and blinked in surprise as something stopped his movement about a foot out, then added a colorful swearword when that same unyielding something sent a shock through his fingertips.

He pulled back and cradled his hand to his chest. "O-kay. Electric invisible force field. That's a new one… huh?"

Matt stared at the wall in front of him as suddenly, a row of _bubbles_ cascaded upwards across it. He followed it up and out of sight when they passed the ceiling, and looked back down as a _fish_ moved into the wall, swimming carelessly into view and slowly, out of it.

"It's not a wall," Matt realized, "it's glass. I'm in an aquarium?" He looked around once more, the gears in his mind working over time. The fish was green-tinted as well, so either there was a lot more pollution in Heatherfield than he'd thought, or…

"I'm in a green electric forcefield in an aquarium," he decided. But that didn't answer the _why_…

"Urgh… my head."

Matt spun on his heel—he'd been thinking so hard on where he was that he hadn't even bothered looking behind him, and he was already mentally kicking himself for it. What if something had come at him while he'd been staring into space? Stupid, rookie mistake…

His mouth fell as his eyes told his brain what he was seeing, even as his brain began refusing to see it.

His little force field was against one of the back walls of the room. On the opposite side were two brown and green (he guessed were red and white, outside of his green-tinted view) spheres. Inside of them, Nigel and Eric were sitting down—Eric seemed to have woken up several minutes ago, while Nigel was still regaining consciousness.

"Welcome to the world of the living, guys," Eric said dryly.

"What the…?" Nigel looked around his sphere with wide eyes. "Why's everything red?"

The other boy shook his head. "It's not. You're in a bright red ball, Ashcroft. Makes your hair look great." Nigel scowled.

"Lillian!" Matt cried, walking forward and hissing in pain when he hit the opposite side of his container. In the very center of the room was a simple cage made of grey metal, holding a group of people the three boys quickly recognized.

The bleary-eyed nine-year-old who was wiping the dust from her face was the first they saw, followed by a groaning Japanese teenager, three tiny shapes that were working their way to their feet, and a still unconscious, much older man that Matt definitely recognized.

His head throbbed as he stared at the Asian man's relaxed face. Brief flashes escaped his barriers, of that same man in a computer screen, hatred in his eyes and contempt in his sneer, of a flare of fear and concern and anger in Matt's own heart…

He shook his head and pushed them back. "Are you guys alright?" he asked, speaking to both his friends and those waking in the center of the room.

"Why do you care?"

The boys turned their heads and did a doubletake at the sight of the five girls from before, each within their own circular forcefield; blue, green, red, and grey. The fifth girl, the redhead, was also in a cage, but unlike the others, the bars of her prison were made from bright blue lightning and not metal.

She was the one who'd spoken up. The redhead. She was looking directly at Matt with a face that held a whole lot of suspicion and just a little curiosity.

Matt raised his eyebrows. "Uh… they're my friends?"

"I don't think that's what she meant, buddy," the girl in the blue bubble supplied helpfully.

The blonde in a similarly green one narrowed her eyes at the boys. "You guys were after Lillian for some reason—why would you care if she got a little roughed up on the way here?"

Matt bristled. "I would _care_ because she's an innocent _kid_! And by the way, _you five_ were the ones after her!"

"Yeah right!" the Chinese girl in grey shot back. "Then why'd you try and kidnap her?"

"We weren't kidnapping her, _you_ were!" Nigel protested. "We were trying to get her out of there!"

"No, _we_ were!" said the girl in red.

"No, it was us!" Nigel pressed, frowning. "You guys fought us when the robots went to get reinforcements and gave _them_ a clear shot because we were too busy trying to make sure you didn't hurt the kid!"

"Robots?" Blue repeated. "Of course. Robots. That _totally_ explains everything—what a cheap story!"

Matt tuned out the fight and locked eyes with the redhead in the blue cage. She stared right back at him with brown eyes that refused to change color even through his green wall.

The girl nodded slightly and Matt nodded back. He placed two fingers in his mouth and blew out, creating a whistle so loud and high it began to wake the other captives.

_Fweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!_

Eric, Nigel, and the girls in the bubbles winced and covered their ears at the sound. Matt removed his fingers and smirked at the redhead, who didn't reply to his look.

"Stop fighting. Who wanted what doesn't matter right now, what does matter is that we're all stuck in the same place and I doubt whoever's got a hold of us is gonna treat us with any hospitality whatsoever."

Matt nodded. "We can work out what happened in the field later. We need to get out of here, _now_. Doubt whoever they are are gone leave us be in here for very long."

"I was never one for tight spaces anyway." Blue cracked her fingers outward and pointed them at the walls of her prison. _"Water!"_

"Air!"

"Fire!"

"Earth!"

"Quintessence!"

Nigel ran at the walls of his prison with his shoulder angled outward, hoping to knock it down like he would a door. It didn't give any luck, however, and instead, Nigel found himself running along the edge of the sphere like a motorcycle stuntman in a spherical cage, a bright red streak within the bright red ball.

"Whoa!" He stopped his feet at the wrong time and fell from the top of the ball back to the ground. Nigel groaned and rubbed his slightly green face. "Man that was worse'n the rollercoaster at the park…"

Eric grunted as he flew upwards, trying to lift the bubble to see if the bottom had a hole. When that didn't work, he landed again and nocked a pair of arrows, letting loose in the hopes it would pop.

He frowned as the arrows passed through the white field harmlessly. "Normal stuff goes right through it," he announced.

Matt grunted as he tried to tug the normal force stopped him from walking through the field from place. While he could see it easily, and grasp it as easily as he could a string, it was _not budging_. He must've looked like some kind of mime, pulling on an invisible rope.

Grey Girl was quick to notice. "Is your power like, mime or something?" In quick response, Blue placed a finger over her mouth and put up her hands as if inside an invisible box inside her forcefield, getting giggles from her friend.

Matt glared at her. "No," he replied shortly, letting the force go. "I can see and affect forces around me. I was _trying_ to make this thing intangible by taking away the normal force that would push me back when I hit it, but the sonuvab!tch isn't moving, for some reason." He sighed and scratched his head. "I may not have been at this for very long, but that is _definitely_ not normal."

The redhead made an understanding 'o' with her mouth. "That's how you made me stop flying, before." He nodded. "Isn't there, like, an emergency overload button or something? My lightning's just making the bars stronger."

"How would we know?" Nigel asked with a scowl, standing shakily. "Who-oa… I don't feel so great…"

Blue smirked. "Not used to defying gravity, Streak?" He scowled at her.

Green flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You three probably know more about this place than we do…

"Why?" Nigel demanded, "because we're the ones who brought you here? We're caught just as much as you!"

"Easy, man," Matt warned him. "Yelling's just gonna get everyone pissed off at everyone else, and then we'll get nowhere."

Green was unapologetic. "I'm just saying…"

Red rolled her eyes. "Cornelia, I understand if you're still a little ticked about Lillian, but that _was_ a little low."

Matt froze, his brain working a mile a minute. "Wait. Cornelia? As in, Lillian's older sister?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "_Wow_, uh… besides the whole 'magical fairy' thing, I think there's been a misunderstanding here."

"Hey!" Blue glared at him. "That's insulting."

"You are telling me." The Japanese girl was on her feet and currently glaring at everyone in sight. Lillian was sitting by the girl's ankles, looking nervously around the room.

"Shinobu, are you okay?" Grey Girl asked, taking a step forward.

Shinobu, apparently, nodded. "Yes. However, you all nearly weren't. You five," she said, pointing to the shocked girls, "did not wait to see what exactly the situation was before attacking the boys. And _you_ three," she added, turning on the boys, "did not even _try_ and explain to the girls the true situation. You all just dove into the brawl without a second thought, both sides believing you were fighting for Lillian's sake when really, you were just distracting each other long enough to give the true enemy a clear shot at all of us!"

"…Wait, you really _were_ trying to get Lillian out of there?" Cornelia asked, face empty of hostility for the first time.

Matt, Eric, and Nigel nodded. "I was about to run her over to Matt's," Nigel offered, jabbing a thumb at his friend, "when I got transported into Day of the Living Plants and Dirt."

"The plants were alive before," Eric reminded him, ignorant of the shocked looks the girls were giving Matt.

"What_ever_, dude, not everyone grew up with scientists."

"Wait, _Matt_?" The redhead suddenly asked. Matt flicked his eyes over to her and blinked. "_Matt_? That… that's _you_?"

"Uh… yeah. Do I know you?"

The redhead flinched as if struck. Grey Girl and Red turned to Eric and Nigel. "Wait," Red said slowly, "if _that's_ Matt, then… Nigel?"

"Eric?" Grey Girl squeaked, her eyes wide.

Blue looked between the three boys. "Okay, you know what, if _this_ is what happens when boyfriends find out about magic, _major score!"_

"Does… anyone else get the feeling we're missing something here?" Eric asked nervously.

Matt frowned and looked at the shocked girls. "Wait," he said slowly. "You guys… we knew you, before, didn't we?" They nodded frantically. "Before… Saturday?"

"A lot happened before Saturday, Mattieboy." All heads turned once more. Sitting in the middle of a third cage was a small black cat and a tiny white dormouse. The cat was looking directly at Matt, and judging the accent that had touched the words he'd heard, it was the cat that'd spoken.

"Well," Eric said, "if it involves a talking cat, five magical fairy warriors, a bunch of robots, and a dormouse that can turn into some kind of werewolf thingy in about two seconds, then #ell yeah a lot happened!"

Matt ignored his friend and looked at the cat. "The guys lost an entire day over the weekend, and I'm having trouble remembering a lot more. You know what happened to our memories?"

The cat took in a deep breath and sighed. "I've got a hunch as to how it's connected with what's been happening with _us_. But I don't know why it happened or why we're here…"

"I do."

Like spectators in a tennis match, heads turned once more to look at the cage in the center of the room. The old Asian man who'd been unconscious before had woken and was currently standing, his eyes closed and his fists clenched.

Matt felt anger bubble up through his core and overflow into a scowl on his face.

"Takeda."

* * *

**Til tomorrow.**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	50. Chapter 50: Explanations

**HOLY GOD IN HEAVEN.**

**Is this seriously the fiftieth chapter? Sweet Geezus! I literally thought when I signed up for FanFiction I'd never write a story this long, but here we are! Shows what I know! :D Thanks for sticking all the way over here! ****And over 170 reviews! You guys are AMAZING!**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H.**

* * *

**-Fifty: Explanations-**

Matt could not explain the anger that filled him at this moment. It was unfounded and inexplicable, but it was there and it did not look like it was going anywhere. His hands clenched into fists and his eyes burned at the level of the glare he was sending the man.

Shinobu looked between the man and Matt. "How do you know my father?" she asked.

"Your _father_?" It wasn't Matt that asked, but the miniscule blonde at her feet. Liam was looking up at her with wide eyes. "Takeda is… your _father_?"

She looked down at the small man, confused, and nodded. "Is your sister the one called Mariko?" Shinobu jumped at the name.

"How does the munchkin know about Mariko?" Blue girl asked fairly loudly.

Liam turned his shocked gaze from Shinobu and glared at the man in front of them. "Why don't _you_ explain, Takeda?" he asked bitingly.

Matt frowned and looked between the two men, wondering what their connection was. "What exactly is going on here?" Nigel asked, confused. "Liam, who the heck is Mariko?"

Liam continued staring at Takeda, who looked to the ground. "Mariko is my first daughter," he said quietly. "Shinobu's older sister. She was extremely intelligent, and joined the research divisions of my company a year ago.

"Her project was a machine that could create a fold, a tear in the space-time continuum that would lead her to a different world. It was a success. Mariko found her way into another dimension, one she called 'the Fast World'."

"That's Liam's home world," Eric realized, eyes wide.

Takeda nodded. "I was so proud of her. She would always return from the world, ecstatic and filled with knowledge on magic and how the multiverse worked. I thought her interests were simply scientific, but soon, when she began spending more and more time on the Fast World, I realized that she had found love on that world.

"I did _not_ want to lose my daughter to another dimension. I told her that it was forbidden for her to cross the fold again just to see her lover. I see now that it was wrong—I've seen for a while, it was wrong, ever since the accident.

"Mariko, the girl who had always followed my advice, disobeyed my orders and began to leave for the Fast World again, this time for the last time. I followed her and attempted to turn off the machine before she could step through the fold."

The man hung his head. "I was a fool. I did not know how to turn it off. The machine and the fold exploded. When I woke, Mariko was gone, lost to the Fast World and in her place were two beings. The first was this… miniature man here, and the second, a kind of beast called a Naiade."

Liam's eyes grew huge. "A _Naiade?_" he repeated, his voice laced with fear.

"What's a Naiade and _why_ do I not like the sound of it?" the redhead wondered, frowning.

"It is a creature from my world," Liam explained. "You would call it a… snake with a cat's head. It's deadly and feared wherever it goes, because it _feeds_ on magic and is extremely tricky."

Matt's hand immediately flew to his pendant even as he glanced at Lillian. He _knew_, somehow, that both held massive amounts of magic and that he could _not_ lose either. Takeda was continuing.

"Tricky, yes. She deceived me. Told me she was a refugee from a world in chaos due to the magic my daughter had spoken so highly about. She said she was a member of a society that was trying to rid all the worlds of magic."

"A _what_?" all five girls suddenly screeched. "Rid all the planets of magic—do you have _any_ idea what would happen if you tried that?" Grey Girl demanded.

"The Earthen division of a multi-dimensional organization devoted to the cause of eradicating magic." Matt blinked rapidly as the words came to mind and then mouth. All eyes had turned to him. "I… I remember something… a black room and a computer screen." He scowled at the man in front of him. "You're the reason we can't remember anything, _aren't_ you?"

Shinobu turned in shock from Matt and stared at the older, shame-faced man. "Father…?"

"She told me that if I supplied her with magic, she would be able to open another fold and bring Mariko back to me."

Liam shook his head. "That was a lie," he said cuttingly. "Naiades have never been able to open folds."

He nodded. "Yes, I know. But I did not, then. So I used Mariko's technology and what she told me to create a magic tracker, to find the magic inside of Earth so I could capture it and give to Naiade, so she would return Mariko."

A horrified feeling settled into the bottom of Matt's stomach, icy fingers of dread sinking into his torso. He looked at the other two small shapes in the cage—Al and Tro.

"The missing Protectors…"

"You… you…" Al walked forward, her face unreadable from such a distance. "You SON OF A B!TCH!"

Takeda ducked as the small girl flew at him, quickly joined by an enraged Tro. Shinobu and Lillian acted quickly, taking a hold of the furious and grieving Protectors and pulling them off of the man responsible for their loved ones' deaths.

"My _entire family_ is _dead_ because of because of _you!_" Al screeched. Matt didn't need to see her face to know that she was crying—her voice said it all. "I spent _months_, _alone_ in a settlement surrounded by _empty houses_ because of _you!_"

"My grandma…" Tro claimed sadly.

Matt shook his head and didn't look at the cage. He heard the girls gasping, Shinobu included. He didn't need to look to know that Nigel and Eric were glaring at Takeda for what he'd done to the friend they'd made in Al.

Takeda kept talking. "My actions were monstrous and I know that however much I apologize, I will never make up for them."

"You're !)amn right you won't!" Al shouted. "You'd better hope our paths _never_ cross, you monster, because I will _not_ hesitate to _kill_ you!"

"But even with the unfathomable amount of acts I'd commited, the Naiade told me it was not enough. So I went searching for a stronger source of power, and found it—in the form of a boy walking along a street in downtown Heatherfield with his friends."

Matt's eyes widened as he realized what Takeda was talking about. "…Me," he said. "Your machines picked _me_ up, because… because…"

His head throbbed painfully and Matt clutched his hair, groaning. "Matt!" the redhead cried, sounding extremely worried. Matt, however, ignored her, more focused on the flashes displaying in his mind's eye: a flash of green, black feathers, Lillian's smiling face in a bed…

"I… was magic before Saturday," he said slowly, trying to piece together clues around his enormous headache. "It had… something to do with… Lil?"

"You were a Regent of Earth, kid," the cat suddenly spoke up. Matt looked at him, the words ringing around in his mind, calling forth a hundred more memories to throw themselves against a barrier he no longer had control over. "One of three—you, me, and the rat. We had parts of the Heart of Earth's power, protecting it until Lillian was old enough to use it for herself."

"He's a dormouse!" Matt protested, wincing and clutching his head again.

"Wait a second," Eric spoke up. "That's—that's insane! An eight-year-old? The Heart of Earth?"

Lillian was frowning. "_Why_, exactly, is that hard to believe?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Because _Matt's_ got the Heart of Earth, around his neck!"

Matt shook his head. "No… no, that's Lillian… this one's old."

Takeda nodded. "Magic attracts magic," he told them, "so we knew that when you passed the area where the jewel would be, you'd be pulled to extract it from it's hiding place. We set a trap—the closest magical beings would get teleported to my factory using the technology Mariko was working on before… her disappearance.

"We were surprised when all three of you came to the drop site. However, we separated you from the others because we knew for sure you had magic." He nodded to Matt, who didn't reply, trying to ignore his mounting headache. "We moved you to a gas room, and after you and I had a conversation, we subjected you to a chemical that would remove your magic and send it through a set of tubes in the walls into the Naiade's chamber."

"You did _what?_" the redhead screeched. "Shinobu, I'm sorry, but your dad is _dead_ when I get my hands on him! Only _one_ person's gone after boyfriends before and he's closer to dead than any of our other enemies!"

"Boyfriend?" Matt repeated, only catching that part and looking at the girl, wide-eyed. The redhead suddenly turned as scarlet as her hair.

"You _tore_ Lillian's magic from him?" the cat demanded suddenly. "Do you have _any_ idea what that could've done to him, let alone Lillian or Earth itself? Do you have _any_ idea how lucky you are?"

He didn't acknowledge the cat. "Somehow, Nigel and Eric were able to escape from their room as well and break into the gas room, where they were subjected as well. You three became unconscious and a member of my company was told to take care of you."

"Wait a second, I remember something!" Eric claimed, eyes wide. "Whe—when we were in the building, we were trying to find out where Matt was so we could escape together, and Nige and I ran into the security guard! He was a big guy, really big and I… I think I hit him over the head with a security camera?"

Grey Girl blinked in surprise as Green rolled her eyes and Blue began cracking up. Takeda nodded. "The security guard who found you and pushed you two into the room was the same one who you knocked unconscious, and the same one who supposedly took care of you.

"This morning, the Naiade called me into her chambers. I thought she was finally strong enough to bring back Mariko, but it was there that she revealed her treachery to me. She told me she was never able to open my fold, and attacked me, knocking me unconscious. When I woke up, I was here."

There was a moment of silence before Shinobu spoke up, giving Al to Lillian. "Father," she said shakily. "You've done horrible things… hurt innocent people… and whatever your reason, it will be hard for those victims to forgive you." Takeda lowered his head and looked away from his daughter. "But I… I still love you." She put a hand on his shoulder. "You are my father and I will help you however I can, because I still love you, and nothing will ever change that."

Takeda looked to her, tears shining in the corners of his eyes, and pulled Shinobu into a hug.

After a minute, the redhead broke the silence. "What happened then?" she asked, looking to Matt for an answer.

Matt realized it was his turn to speak. Slowly, hesitantly, he began spinning the tale that he and his friends had lived through, the story beginning on Earth Day. Was it really only the four days ago? He explained how they'd woken up in the field after Takeda's man had dumped them, how the Heart had come to him like a meteor through the sky and how the three of them had been changed because of it.

He explained how they returned to find out exactly what had happened to them, and about Al's introduction and her explanation of their powers and who and what they were and what they were meant to do. They were the Knights of Earth—meant to protect and defend the Heart of Earth as she lived and worked. He told them about how Al's entire community had disappeared, told them about how they'd agreed to help her find out what happened and why.

He told them of their specific powers, about Nigel's speed and Eric's flight—something that made Grey Girl wide-eyed and smiley, and made all the others turn to her with grins—and about his own new abilities. He told them about their plan and the city of Protectors who'd refused to help, besides Tro and Liam. He told them about the field, what was really happening.

By the time he was done speaking, his throat was on the verge of becoming sore and his voice, hoarse.

When Matt quieted, the room did as well. Only one voice commented on his story, and when it spoke, it wasn't received by his ears, but rather, by his mind.

It was a screechingly loud voice, like the sound of glass against a blackboard, and made them all wince and cover their ears, as if that would stop or even dull the sound. However, the lilt of the voice was soft and smooth as silk—deceivingly sweet, but obviously dangerous and horrible.

"_A wonderful story, Knight. Too bad it ends here."_

* * *

**Only one chapter left, and then the epilogue. ~wipes tear~ My God, am I already crying? I've gotta save these for the real End. :')**

**Til tomorrow,**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	51. Chapter 51: EPIC BATTLE PART ONE

**Hey guys!**

**Good news: the fight begins! Bad news: the fight ends tomorrow! ~dodges flying Snickers bars~ YES! FINALLY!**

**Kidding. Anyway, I was going to put the entire EPIC BATTLE into one chapter, but, like Christopher Paolini, I realized it was way too long and cut it in half.**

**But, Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H. **

* * *

**-Fifty-One: EPIC BATTLE PART ONE-**

It was by far the 'most' thing Nigel had ever seen in his life.

The monster had to be at least 40 feet tall, it's figure stretching to the lofty ceiling for what seemed like an eternity before ending. Most of it was shaped like a blue-grey snake that had been plated in gleaming rectangular sheets of metal of the same color, a singular spin stretching downwards and flowing across the ground before tapering into a tail.

It wasn't until about foot 25 did the serpentine appearance fade and end. There, a woman's torso, colored the same as the tail, gave rise to two clawed arms, bony and the same grey-blue, but unplated with the armor that ran down the remainder of its body.

Held up by a carefully armored neck was the monster's head. A shock of blue-grey hair extended from the scalp to the back of the neck, held back in the front by some sort of mask with two extensions down the side of her mouth. The shape of the face was human, but the nose and eyes were decidedly cat-like, the orbs yellow and slitted dangerously.

It was the most beautiful, most horrible, most graceful and most-terror-inspiring thing he'd seen in his life. It was a monster of 'mosts', and even if one forgot those mosts, at the very least, it was the biggest living thing he'd seen in his life.

"Well, $hit," the girl in the blue bubble said. "Cedric's a girl."

"Really, Irma? _Really_?" Cornelia, in the green bubble, demanded.

Liam had other problems. He had turned on the man in his cage and was probably glaring at him. "Exactly _how_ much magic did you give it?" he shouted. "Naiades are only supposed to grow to the size of the largest Earth snakes!""

"That's a lot bigger than _Anaconda_," Nigel muttered, looking up and down the monster.

"_Yesss, my size grew immenssssely once Takeda gave me the Regent's magic."_ Nigel winced and covered his ears as the Naiade spoke once more. That was going to give him a headache—a bigger one than he already had, of course. _"You were a _very_ magical being, Matthew Olssssen."_

The Naiade had slithered forward and lowered herself slightly to look Matt in the eye. Matt, however, didn't cower or move a muscle, only glared through his golden glasses and the bubble's green walls, directly at the monster. _"And you sssstill are, aren't you? Curioussss, I had thought that removing one magic would remove them all…"_

"Well, you obviously need to think a little harder next time, huh?" he growled, unfazed by the sounds that _had_ to be rattling his brain as much as it was his friends'. "Why'd you capture us?"

The monster chuckled, a horrible _ss-ss-ss-ss_ that wailed in their minds and ears continuously. _"Never in my life had I come acrossss sssuch magical beingsss asss I have here on Earth,"_ she offered in explanation. _"My new sssize requires a much… larger diet. Ssso oncsse the fool down there sssent hisss people to capture you, I sssimply captured him and waited._

"_When the robots returned with you, I placed you each in prisons that could hold you until the end of time. You are to be my final step in my plan."_ The Naiade pulled herself upright and motioned to Takeda. _"I was not entirely untruthful to this man. There might not be an interdimensional society meant to destroy all magic in every realm—such an institution would be nothing short of idiotic and suicidal to those planets that succeed in their quest—but _I_ am definitely aiming to consume every shred of magic this world has to offer._

"_Luckily for me, it seems that I have the very Heart of Earth's magic within my grasp."_ Everyone saw Matt's eyes widen considerably and flick nervously towards the center cage. _"Taking her will complete my goal within minutes rather than the centuries I had expected to wait. Heatherfield is a very fortunate city for one who lives off of magic."_

"If you touch her, I swear to God I will slice you into a hundred pieces," Matt growled, fists clenched. Nigel saw Eric stiffen to his right, heard Huggles and the cat cry out to his left, and even felt protective anger for the little girl begin flowing through his veins. This crazy Frankenstein cat-snake thing wouldn't get _near _that kid, not under his watch.

"And that's _after_ I'm done with you," Cornelia spoke up. "No one messes with my little sister but _me_."

The Naiade shook her head. _"You still do not understand, do you? You are _defeated._ Those prisons are inescapable. They look at your magic when you enter and create a barrier that will not react in anyway with your powers. Throw everything you have at them—they will only grow stronger. I, however, can reach right through them."_

The Naiade reached down and passed her hand harmlessly through the center cage that they had guessed had only been normal metal, before. Shinobu moved in front of Lillian, spreading her arms protectively, and Takeda stepped in front of the two girls.

The monster smirked down at the man. _"I thought you _wanted_ the magic on Earth decimated, Takeda."_

He clenched a fist in front of her. "What I wanted was a passage to where Mariko is. I only saw the removal of magic as a bonus, because I was blaming _it_ for the accident, something that was _my_ fault." He looked up at the Naiade's yellow eyes with a determined look in his own. "I am the one to blame, and as a man I must begin accepting my mistakes and try and fix them _myself_. I will find Mariko myself, without costing another being their life, much less _this_ little girl."

"And I'll help him!" Liam cried from the ground beside him.

"And me!" Tro added.

Al narrowed her eyes. "…Not for you, Takeda, but for Mariko and everyone who loves her."

The Naiade looked at the collection of people and Protectors setting themselves up between her and the small girl that would lead to her conquest of Earth's magic. _"Your loyalty to the girl isss admirable, but in vain."_

With a sweep of her hand, she knocked Takeda aside, slamming him against the walls of the cage. His head hit one of the bars that were all-too-solid to those inside it and he fell to the ground.

"_Chichi!_" Shinobu screamed, rushing to her father's side and holding his head in her lap. "Chichi_, _nai_! Nai!_"

The Naiade reached down again and hissed angrily as three miniscule daggers imbedded themselves into her fingers. The Protectors were fulfilling their eponym, defending their Heart any way they could.

With a flick of a single finger, she sent all three flying across the cage. Now unguarded by human or Protector, the monster reached down and picked up the small blonde girl in pink, holding her tightly in one fist as she struggled.

"No, _Lillian!_"

"Stop!"

"No!"

"Lillian!"

Cornelia was slamming her fists against the walls of her bubble, trying to get out, out to pummel the thing that was going to hurt her little sister. Tears streamed down her face. Her baby sister was going to be eaten by a freakish snake monster and there was nothing she could do about it—she was trapped. The girls beside her used their own magic against their prisons, hoping to prove the Naiade wrong, that they could escape…

Nigel and Eric all but threw themselves against the bubbles, worry for the small child making their movements that much faster and hurried. They couldn't let Lillian die, they couldn't—Lillian was the Heart and they were her Knights. They would fight to the very end for her, and they would _not_ let her get eaten.

Matt's screaming was among the loudest in the room, challenged in volume only by Cornelia's, the Regents', and Lillian herself. He stopped caring about the shocks of pain sent through his body every time he touched the green barrier and threw punch after punch, kick after kick at it, hoping to make it shatter apart so he could save the sweet, innocent girl he'd tucked in to bed so many times…

Lillian's scream echoed several times in the room, but not near as many times as in Matt's own mind. He cried out and clutched his skull at the sound, how it reverberated inside him, making nearly every cell in his body vibrate and sending the memories behind his mental walls into a frenzy that would make piranhas and sharks envious.

"Help! Someone help me! _Please!_" The girl screeched as the Naiade opened her immense maw, revealing razor-sharp teeth like cat's canines that hunger to tear and ravage. _"HELP!"_

That shriek was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Matt's scream turned into a roar that dwarfed every other yell as the mental blocks shattered and fell apart, the memories that had been fighting for acknowledgement for the past four days flooding through his mind and a strange, alien, familiar energy suddenly flooded through his body.

Nigel stopped fighting against his walls and swore colorfully as he looked over to his best friend's container. Matt was doubling over in pain, his hands on his face, as neon blue lightning arched across his body. Everywhere the lightning touched, he began to change—he got even taller than he'd become when they changed; his arm and leg muscles grew larger and larger; his hair fell down his shoulders in dreadlocks that seemed to be untamable by any comb or brush; two wide, curving shapes started out as simple blue arches and quickly became the color of the blackest ink, growing feathers darker than night itself.

The lightning stopped. Matt, his face now covered in a solid gold mask showing only his glowing green eyes, looked up at the surprised Naiade and shocked Lillian that stood, motionless, in the middle of the room.

The room fell into complete silence for a solid 10 seconds.

"Unhand my MISTRESS!"

Anger built up behind Matt's eyes and was released in the shape of a bright green bolt of plasma that rocketed straight through the bubble and slammed directly into the Naiade's wrist.

Now free, Matt leapt into the air, memories of flight patterns flying wildly through his mind as he sped up, pushing air with the wings he remembered having for months, and catching the falling girl three feet from the floor.

He set her down oh so gently, taking the time the Naiade was giving him as she swore and shook the injured appendage to look around the room once more.

Far behind the Naiade, near the door she'd come through, was a large computer panel with several screens and many, many buttons. Matt let loose another eyeblast, but it fizzled harmlessly against some kind of forcefield covering it.

Thinking quickly, he looked to an astonished Eric and pointed. "Eric, shoot it!" he yelled, remembering that the boy's arrows had crossed his barrier.

Without a second thought, Eric acted on the order and nocked an arrow, letting it fly at the panel. It hit perfectly, making the machine spark dangerously.

The bubbles grew larger and larger, as if overflowing with extra power, before disappearing with an all-too-fitting _pop!_ The bars of lightning holding Will in place also fizzled from existence, giving the Guardians, Regents, and Knights freedom to pummel.

The Naiade roared in anger and dove forward, attempting to catch the frustrating Dark Angel with her jaws.

Matt didn't move until Nigel had streaked by and picked up Lillian, carrying her out of the way. Once she was safe, he took off once more, dodging the snapping maw by the skin of his teeth.

"Guardians, _attack!_"

"Knights, Regents, _go!_"

Attacks flew from all sides. Water pushed the Naiade back even as fire from the opposite side forced her forward. Air froze her left while levitating objects bruised her right. Arrows sank into her unguarded torso, arms, and face, as something fast and annoying, like a mosquito, sped up and down her body, carving a knife into the thin areas between her armor. Claws and teeth sank into every place they could. Those same green blasts slammed against every inch of her body.

The Naiade had threatened each person's loved ones, the others in the room, and above all, Lillian and therefore their home planet itself. Each one of them were throwing their separate all at the Naiade, anger fueling their decisions and their powers.

The monster's arms flew as she tried to knock away at least one of her attackers. Those who could fly scattered through the air, stopping their attacks only momentarily, until they were safe again, and then began again. Napoleon and Kor leapt out of the way in time.

A boy's scream of pain broke through the combatants' attacks. Matt turned away from the Naiade at the exact wrong moment and grunted as several tons of force met his stomach, knocking him to the ground, loose feathers flying next to him.

"Matt!" he heard Will scream.

Matt, however, only looked up and saw Nigel on the ground a few feet away from him. The redhead was sitting in one place, his face contorted in agony, his hands clasped around his left leg.

_Oh $hit._

He immediately got up and ran to his friend's side. Nigel did a doubletake and shrank away from him at first, but remembered who exactly was behind that mask. "You okay, man?" Matt asked, fully aware of Eric and Taranee landing beside him. Eric came around him, coming to Nigel's other side even as Taranee went to his front.

"Her arm… my leg… I think it's broken," he grunted, his teeth clenched in pain. He gripped his thigh. "Doubt I can run… I'm not gonna be any more help. Dude… it _hurts!_"

Taranee laid a hand carefully on his shoulder. He looked up at her and blinked rapidly, his eyebrows meeting. "Don't worry, Nigel, you'll be okay, she said softly, even though her glasses showed flames rising all the way across the glass.

"…Taranee?"

Matt grinned, though it was unseen through his mask. "Looks like I'm not the only one remembering a couple things. T, we need to get him and the others out of here."

She nodded curtly before looking at Eric. "You can fly, right?" He nodded shakily. "Grab Nigel and Lillian and tell Shinobu to open a fold to Kandrakar. She should know what I mean. They'll be safe there, okay?"

"But…"

"C'mon, Lyndon, it's not that far," Nigel said with a groan. "You don't even have to go that high—I know you're still a wimp about heights, so…"

"Eric." The boy looked Matt directly in the eye. "Get Lillian to safety."

He blinked and nodded, hooking his arms around Nigel's arms and lifting him into the air. Eric took off after glancing once more at Matt, heading for the cage that still held the Takedas and where Lillian was taking cover.

Matt sighed and looked up. "At least they're safe," he muttered.

"She won't be," Taranee muttered, the fire in her glasses unmatched by the one in her eyes.

Eric landed next to the two Japanese nationals, letting Nigel down gently. The girl—Shinobu—looked up from her father with tears in her eyes.

"Is he okay?" he asked, concerned despite himself.

"He is alive. And him?"

"It might not feel like it, but I'll live," Nigel promised.

Eric looked at the girl seriously. "They told me to tell you to open a fold to Kandrakar. You guys should be safe there."

Shinobu looked at him as if he'd grown another head. "Are you insane?" she asked. "I've been opening folds only by accident! I am not sure if I can do it on purpose."

The boy shook his head. "You _have_ to, Shinobu. Your life, your dad's life, _Lillian's_ life depends on it." The girl hesitated still. "They're counting on you," he added, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You can do this."

Shinobu looked down at her unconscious father and the still-crying eight-year-old hiding behind her. She loved her father and the girl, and Lillian was so extremely important… "I'll do it," she decided, looking up. Eric smiled at her and clapped his hand on her back encouragingly. "Give me a moment."

Nigel nodded and hissed in pain, still clutching his thigh when an infuriated screech broke through the air. His and Eric's heads turned as a pillar of bright orange flame rose into the air, slamming solidly into the monster, controlled by a singular girl.

"…Man, that's hot," Nigel muttered, grinning slightly at both the pun and as that fiery temper picked up certain memories that had brought that same smile to his face when he'd had them open to his mind.

"That's _my_ girl!"

* * *

**Til tomorrow!**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	52. Chapter 52: EPIC BATTLE PART TWO

**Well guys. Here we are. The last official chapter of 'Earth Day'. **

**After this, there is only an epilogue, and then... I hit the complete button.**

**Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMED: W.I.T.C.H. and Kirby.**

* * *

**-Fifty-Two: EPIC BATTLE PART TWO-**

"_ENOUGH!"_

The Naiade, which had nearly bent backwards at the force of Taranee's flame, reared upright, fury more than visible on her horribly beautiful face. Her gigantic mouth opened as wide as it could get, her jaw becoming level with the extensions on her mask and began drawing in a huge breath of air.

"Look out!"

"Run!"

Though the Guardians didn't easily retreat, _now_ they were scattering through the air to avoid whatever the monster was attempting. The attacks they sent her way were sucked into her maw, a whirling combination of fire, water, air, levitating objects, and lightning that arched between each element that spiraled downwards into her throat.

"What the heck is this?" Will asked, stopping flight for a moment to stare.

"I don't know," Matt admitted, "but I don't think we're gonna like it."

As if hearing him, the Naiade closed its mouth as the last of their elements entered her jaws. There was a moment of relative silence, a silence only broken by the beating and humming of angel and fairy wings, where the Naiade's bright yellow eyes were closed, as if the monster was concentrating on something.

Suddenly, they and her mouth opened.

"_Fly!_"

Never was a better decision made as the elements they had poured into the Naiade's mouth reappeared, flying outwards in a furious storm, begging to choke, burn, drown, to rip apart and to electrocute all at one time.

"Flying!" Hay Lin replied, arching upwards in the room to dodge the massive attack.

"Oh _no_ she did not," Irma called. "This thing did _not_ pull a Kirby on us!"

"You spend too much time on videogames!" Cornelia told her.

Taranee was thinking fast, as usual. "We can't hit her directly anymore—she'll just absorb the attacks and make herself stronger!"

Cornelia huffed. "Well, great, then what do we do?" she demanded, flying out of the way of an attack.

"Anyone know how to box?" Irma spoke up.

Matt was frowning in thought, staying well out of reach of the attacks. He knew there was a way to beat this thing, even as it took their own magics and absorbed them in herself for her own use…

"Wait a minute."

_Flashback_

_Al sat on a small rock in the field, telling the three boys sitting in front of her about the magic of the worlds and the Protectors that had once had the run of the area. Her eyes were glistening with tears as she spoke of her friends, her family, her loved ones that had gone._

"_How do you know they're… really…" Eric trailed off, his face sympathetic._

_The small Protector held up her hand, her palm facing the sky above them. A bright gold spark appeared on it. "Protectors have two kinds of magic—the stuff that makes them and the stuff they can use. The kind they can use is split and shared between the Protectors in the area. _

"_When there are three Protectors in one magical place, the magic they share is spread so thin, none of them can do anything that normal giants can't. The fact that I can do this, and fly, means that the shared magic that they had parts of is now concentrated on me. The only way the shared magic could be separated from them is if they…"_

_Al cleared her throat and closed her fist on the spark, extinguishing it. "I'm actually really lucky. For most magical beings, this much magic that wasn't originally mine would've made me overload."_

_Matt frowned—that wasn't a word he recognized. "Overload?" he repeated._

_The girl nodded. "Magical overload—when a magical creature, doesn't matter who or from what planet, takes in too much magic that wasn't meant to be theirs, it'll eventually be too much for their body, and then… boom."_

"_Boom?" Nigel repeated with wide, green eyes._

"_Boom," Al agreed, nodding._

"…Any magical being…" Matt murmured, eyes growing wide behind his mask. "Guys! I have an idea!"

"Great! What is it?" Will asked urgently, looking over her shoulder at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Throw all the magic you've got at her!"

"Are you _insane_?" Cornelia screeched.

Irma agreed, for once. "Matt, did you lose the memories from three seconds ago? When she took our powers and turned them against us? Doing _that_ will be an _invitation_ for her to eat us!"

"Not if we do it fast enough," he replied. "Just trust me, okay? We do it together, all of us!"

Napoleon spoke up from the ground. "You'd better know what you're doing, Mattieboy."

He looked up at the roaring monster that was trying to hit Hay Lin with her multi-elemental attacks. "I hope I do," he said in reply, too low for anyone else to hear.

"Matt!" He turned and saw Eric fly up next to him, dutifully keeping his bright blue eyes from the ground. "You got a plan?"

He nodded. "We're gonna overload her. When we say when, throw every last shred of magic you can handle at her, you got me?"

Eric looked at his friend, hidden behind the emotionless mask. Matt knew what he was asking. Just like the times he'd helped him get down from those heights he'd been terrified of, he was asking for his trust, in him to lead the three of them out of this.

"…I got you, dude," he said, already pulling out one of his white-fletched arrows.

Matt nodded and turned back to the monster. "Everyone over here!" he called. With only a moment's hesitation, the five Guardians flew until the entire group was in one place with clear shots towards the monster.

The Naiade turned to face them. _"Foolisssssh children,"_ she said with a very catlike smirk. _"Well, at leasssst I get to finissssh you all off at oncsssse."_

She opened her mouth, readying a massive blast of the combined elements. Matt could see the deadly swirl working it's way up her throat, and the moment it was at the right place…

"NOW!"

"_Air!_"

"_Water!_"

"_Fire!_"

"_Earth!_"

"_Quintessence!_"

Every element began flying into the Naiade's maw, joined by the solid green laser from Matt's eyes. Napoleon and Kor, down on the ground, mentally sent the magic Lillian had lent them at her, aiming for the immense target that was her open throat.

Eric focused the power in the center of his chest and sent it to the tip of the arrow, squinting slightly as it suddenly began to shine with bright white power, and pulled the bowstring back tighter, ready to loose it.

Nigel, sitting halfway across the room, looked up at the shouts coming from the Naiade. They were attacking her all at the same time, sending their magic down her throat. Almost immediately, his mind caught onto the path his best friend's train of thought was traveling, and the boy smiled.

"Magic overload, huh?" he asked. "…Think I can still help with that." Nigel took out one of the small daggers at his belt and held it carefully in front of him, eyeing his target so many yards away. Just as Eric was doing, he focused his magic and sent it to the tip of his blade, throwing it only when the shine at the end got too bright for his eyes.

The dagger flew, guided by the magic, all the way across the room. Whether it had been by coincidence or by some work of fate, Eric loosed his arrow just as Nigel's dagger sped by him, both of them flying harmlessly through the magic inside her mouth and throat.

_Thunk!_

The Naiade's eyes grew enormous as the twin magically loaded points embedded themselves in the back of her throat. Her bony arms flew up and grasped around her throat, stopping her attack in pure shock.

The others, however, had no reason to stop and continued shoving their magic down her throat.

"_No… stop!"_

"You wanted our magic—here it is!" Will screamed in reply, sending a second wave of lightning the Naiade's way.

"_No….!"_

The Naiade suddenly grew immeasurably in size, expanding as her body tried to keep up with the sheer amount of power entering its system. However, there was a point where it just couldn't grow anymore, and then…

"Brace yourselves!" Matt yelled, and the warning reached the girls just in time.

_BOOM!_

In a fantastic display of yellow and blue and pink sparks that put all Fourth of July displays to shame, the Naiade was blown from existence. The shockwave sent those who had finished the monster off flying through the air, the sound bursting at their ears and thrumming in their chests.

The explosion rocked the very foundations of the underwater laboratory and air bubbles trapped underneath the building for ages suddenly found passage to the surface, creating a silvery curtain over the windows.

Matt, the girls, and the Regents and Knights barely had time to get back to their feet before an ominous cracking sound rattled their still ringing ears.

Every head turned to the three windows that were keeping several hundred thousand tons of water out. Shining silver lines were spreading across each one, glass spiderwebs that promised to be just as deadly to them as the real ones were to insects.

"Something tells me we need to RUN!" Irma cried.

"Get to the fold!" both Will and Matt screeched at the same time.

Eric and Hay Lin flew ahead of the rest, picking up Nigel and helping him through first. The rest of the Guardians followed with Will, Napoleon, and Kor close behind.

Matt glanced over his shoulder and saw the first window give to the rush and pressure of the roaring waters, jumping into the closing fold just before those same waters could crush him.

* * *

**'Til tomorrow, my friends.**

**PEACE**

_**~Tibki**_


	53. Epilogue

**-Epilogue-**

Will flipped the bouquet she was carrying right-side up and pressed one of the strange, leaf-shaped red blossoms to her nose, inhaling and smiling at the sweet scent.

"What did Lillian say these were called?" she asked Matt, who was walking right next to her, their fingers entwined between them. They stopped in front of the elevator, and when the doors opened to take them up, he held the door back and waved her in.

Matt hit the button for the third floor and smiled at the picture of his girlfriend and the flowers, thanking God that he'd gotten his memories back and wondering how he ever could've forgotten someone as amazing as Will before replying. "_Canna_ Roi Humbert. Native to Italy and one of the few red flowers _not_ associated with love."

Napoleon had been continuing to teach Shinobu and Lillian how to use their respective magics for the past week. Most of Lillian's training sessions now included Cornelia as well, helping her little sister grow flowers and plants from all corners of the Earth on their little patio using her magic.

It was proving useful, since it required Lillian to have a good grasp of control—lest she make them out-grow the pots she practiced on—and a feel for the Earth that was both under her feet and where the plant naturally grew.

Unable to come with the couple, Lillian had given them a bouquet of the reddest, non-romantic flowers she could think of to give to the patient they were visiting.

'Patient', however, was a misnomer. The moment the two teens stepped out of the elevator, the sound of a very familiar voice screaming from the other side of the floor reached their ears.

"…get out of here? Come _on_, I'm supposed to be checking out by now!"

Matt and Will both chuckled, continuing forward past the exasperated nurses behind the main desk and heading towards the source of the noise. One of the hospital door was left wide open, probably purposefully, to keep as much of the floor aware that Nigel Ashcroft was checking out of the hospital today.

"Knock knock," Will said, rapping twice on the wooden door and momentarily stopping the patient's mouth. "Hey Nigel."

"Hey man, how you holding up?" Matt asked as they stepped inside.

Nigel was sitting in a wheelchair in front of the hospital bed he'd occupied for the past week. A dull red cast with names and doodles all but covering the plaster extended from his still-slightly-visible toes up to his hip.

The story was that while the group had been visiting one of the heather fields outside of town, Nigel had gotten the brilliant idea to try and scale one of the pine trees that surrounded it. A branch had snapped and he'd fallen all the way to the ground, landing awkwardly on his leg.

The others had rushed him to the hospital, and an X-ray discovered that his femur had been broken nearly clean in half. Though one of the toughest—and most painful—bones to break in the body, it was also one of the slowest to heal, so the doctors had set the bone and kept Nigel for two days.

Two days had turned into a week when, for no apparent reason other than pure teenage-boy-boredom, Nigel and one of the kids he'd managed to befriend tried to race down the wheelchair ramp on the first floor. It had started out badly, with the two boys wheeling for their lives away from the shocked and chasing nurses, and ended even worse when, not looking where they were going, they crashed headlong through the glass doors at the end of the ramp.

The friend had gotten away with only minor scrapes and a dislocated shoulder—a miracle, really, as the glass had been double-plated and the two of them had smashed straight through it—but Nigel had broken two fingers as well as torn the ligaments in the knee below his broken femur when the wheelchair came crashing down on him.

All in all, they figured it was worth it.

Now Nigel sat in a different wheelchair, impatiently drumming his fingers on the armrest, his eyes still having trouble staying still on any one particular thing. However, when they landed on the clipboard in Matt's other hand, they stayed there.

"Are those my check-out papers? Please say those're my check-out papers. I'm so _bored_!"

Matt chuckled. "Glad to hear you're feeling better, and we're doing fine, thanks." Nigel rolled his eyes and looked at his friend, waiting for a reply. Matt smiled down at him for a moment.

"Matt!" Will said with a grin, gently swatting at his arm. "Don't torture him."

"Alright, fine, sorry. Yeah, they're your check-out papers…" he trailed off slightly as Nigel gave an enormous 'WHOOT' "… but you don't get to get out of here until four."

The redhead in the wheelchair looked anxiously at his clock. "But it's 3:55!" he whined pathetically. "Can't they cheat just… fifteen minutes? I haven't seen T'ree since yesterday afternoon—I spent four days without her, I'm not planning on spending another!"

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Will said, smiling sweetly.

"But it also ain't gonna happen," Matt added with a cruel grin, moving to sit on the bed. Will seated herself carefully on the armchair beside the headboard. "The nurse we got this from said that if she sees you out of this room before four, she'll admit you to the psych ward for a full evaluation—which includes staying the night in a padded room, wearing a straitjacket." Nigel pouted and sank against his chair, but didn't say anything. "Don't make faces, dude, you're ugly enough as it is."

Nigel stuck his tongue out at him before turning to Will. "Are those for me?" he wondered, looking at the flowers.

She nodded and laid the bouquet on his lap. "From Lillian," she explained. "They're Italian."

He nodded with a grateful smile. "Fancy. I'm gonna have to thank her for these."

Matt shrugged. "She said, 'princesses send flowers to their wounded knights'." The redhead snorted.

"So she's been working on her powers with Napoleon and Shinobu?"

Will nodded. "Yeah. Apparently, they're both getting really good, especially since 'Obu opened that fold to the Fast World and brought Mariko back. She and Liam are really great together… at least now that Lillian brought him back to normal height. The entire family's focusing on fixing what got screwed up because of what Takeda did with the Protectors and the Naiade, you know, making their research more Earth-friendly and sponsoring local gardens, that kind of thing."

Nigel nodded appreciatively. His mom would _love_ to have a community garden to pick tomatoes from. "Speaking of Protectors, what about Al?" he asked, looking at Matt.

"She went back to the heather field," he explained. "Someone's gotta protect it, you know. Tro went with her, so she won't be so lonely." He grinned. "You should've seen her face when he told her. It was like she forgot it was her birthday and someone had just dropped a big present on her lap. She almost _kissed_ him."

"Yeah, it was almost like Hay Lin after Eric got his memories back," Will nodded with a grin. "Remember, she tackled him in a kiss so hard they slid across the floor?"

Matt chuckled at the memory. "That's nothing compared to what Mom did when she came home last night and found Dad and Grandpa talking in the living room," he added, looking at Nigel. "Lillian made him normal again a little while ago, and he was telling Gramps the story we decided on—you know, the whole 'lost my passport, couldn't prove I was American to the embassy and only just barely got enough money for a flight back home two weeks ago' schtick—when she made a surprise visit home. The neighbors called the cops, she was screaming and crying so loud."

Without warning, Nigel's watch beeped loudly, signaling the turn of the hour. He cheered, raising his arms in triumph and getting his friends to laugh before looking pleadingly at them.

"Can you help me out here?"

Will raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Nige, I'm pretty sure you can wheel yourself out—those wraps on your fingers are hard proof of that."

He shook his head. "It's not that—one of the nurses put in an emergency brake so I wouldn't be able to leave. I can't reach it and these wheels aren't gonna turn with it on, so…"

Matt laughed. "Well what do you know? Someone _finally_ figured out how to stop Streak from moving."

Nigel scowled at the nickname but quickly grinned as his friend kicked out the brakes and began wheeling him home.

When Will handed the clipboard to the nurse at the front desk, the lady skimmed over the papers once before pointing at the redhead chatting happily with his friend behind him. "He'd better not show up around here anymore," she warned the three of them. "Most of the nurses agree—you're a nice kid, but more trouble than you're worth. I hope you two have more sense than to get into whatever battles this kid tries to pull you into."

Will and Matt shared a knowing glance, smirking as Nigel snorted.

"Fight? Us?" Nigel asked, putting a hand to his chest. "C'mon Nurse Sarah! We're just kids!"

Nurse Sarah snorted. "That's exactly why I'm afraid. Spring break's coming up—of course, it used to be earlier in the month, around the 22nd, when I was a kid. The _stories_ I could tell you about we used to do on Earth Day…"

The three teenagers looked at each other and laughed. Will shook her head and stepped back from the desk.

"Trust me, ma'am, whatever story you have, it's _nothing_ compared to ours."

* * *

**...I think I'm gonna start crying now... **

**After over two years, two months, and one day, Earth Day is officially _finished!_**

**A million and five thanks to all the readers and reviewers who stuck with the story even through the hiatus. You guys are the reason we're here today. As I press the button to mark this epic as 'complete', to end this era of my life, in fact, you all are in my heart and mind. Thank you.**

**_A weight is lifted, on this evening; I give the final blow... When darkness turns to light, it ends tonight! It ends tonight!_**

**My final PEACE,**

_**~Tibki**_


End file.
